Late Lunch
by Primrue
Summary: Hermione was supposed to meet her father for lunch, but when he's not there to meet her she gives him a call. Turns out someone set off a few fireworks in town. Muggle AU.
1. Chapter 1

Late lunch

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The back of the station was cluttered and smelly as usual. Coffee stains embedded every spot that the vast amount of paper stacks on the tables were unable to cover, and an unmistakable stuffiness filled the air, as if the windows hadn't been open in years. It didn't help that it was a million degrees either.

Hermione continued down the row of desks until she found the one she was looking for, discovering that the person she was after was missing.

 _That's odd…_

"Little Hermy!" called a voice behind her.

Hermione turned and was greeted by a man with grey eyes, dark hair and huge smile. "Hi there, Sirius," she said. "Have you seen Dad? We were supposed to meet for lunch today."

"So, not here for me, then?" The man sighed and gave a slight pout. "I remember when you were little you used to love visiting your uncle Sirius."

"I also played with dolls and believed unicorns to be real."

Sirius clutched his chest. "Ooff! Tough blow, kid."

Hermione smirked. "And you know, that was _years_ ago, ages really…"

"Fine, you've made me feel old, you win this time," he said , interrupting before Hermione even had the chance to mention his wrinkles. The girl giggled but quickly snapped her mouth shut when Sirius sent her a narrowed pair of eyes. He took a sip of his coffee and then continued, "Your father is out with James on a call."

Worry made its way through her, as it always did. Despite having grown up with her father getting sent to crime scenes and the like, Hermione had never been able to get used to it. "It's not…dangerous, is it?"

"No, it didn't sound very… _serious_ ," the man in front of her said, guessing the word she'd been trying to avoid. He revealed even more teeth than before when the curly haired teenager rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Herms, it was something about fireworks being set off."

"All right," she said, feeling relieved. A bead of sweat trailed down her forehead and she wiped it off with the back of her hand. "I'll go wait for him by the reception, it's like a bloody sauna in here."

Sirius grinned. "I know, isn't it amazing?" At her confused stare, he proceeded," McKinnon is wearing her shirt several buttons unbuttoned." Hermione made a face at this. "The cleavage-"

Suddenly, an apple soared through the air and onto Sirius's head. "I heard that, Black!"

Sirius swore under his breath and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, Herms, I've got to deal with something. Marlene! What was that for?!"

"You know why, and don't go talking like that to Hermione! Don't be the gross, inappropriate uncle who creeps everyone out at reunions!"

"Who are you calling gross?!"

Hermione tuned out the rest of their typical bickering and headed for the entrance. She frowned as she dialled her father's phone number; the French receptionist, Irma Pince, was giving her the stink-eye.

"If you're going to make a phone call, do it outside," said Madame Pince, her words carrying a bit of an accent.

"It won't take more than a minute," assured Hermione.

Madame Pince scowled but returned nonetheless to her paperback novel. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued waiting for the call to connect. After a few seconds, officer Granger answered.

"Hello?"

There were a lot of background noises, suggesting her father was in his car. "Hi, Dad, it's Hermione. I hope you're not talking and driving?"

"Oh, Hermione! Hello, sweetheart. No, don't worry, still parked and waiting for James to come back. He's getting the twin."

"Twin?"

"Well, you see, I have a seventeen year-old in the back of my car, about to drive him and his brother to the station."

"Okay…" said Hermione. A bit annoyed at him for letting her wait, she continued, "Is he cute?"

Rustling was heard on the other end and Hermione guessed he had turned in his seat. "Hey, my daughter is wondering if you're cute."

 _Dad_!

Leave it to her father to see through her scheme and embarrass her. She felt her cheeks grow hot and had to restrain herself from going all typical teenager on him. So humiliating.

"Cute?" said a voice in the background. "Yeah, I'd like to say so, sir."

Officer Granger laughed and Hermione herself couldn't help but crack a smile.

"You heard him, sweetheart. Although, I hope I don't have to repeat the 'no-dating-criminals-rule'? No offence," he added to the boy in the backseat.

"None taken," the boy replied, sounding a bit too chipper for someone currently in custody.

"No worries," Hermione said. "And even if I did date a criminal, I set my standards high; he would have to be smart enough to not get caught by the police."

"Ah, I'm glad to hear that you won't ever date then."

Hermione grinned. "Estimated time of arrival? You promised me green curry."

"I would have to say twenty minutes. I can see James now, got to go. See you soon, darling."

"You too. Bye."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Just a little Fremione cuteness (yes, that was Fred in the car) based off of a post I saw a while ago on tumblr (can't remember the username, sorry!).**  
 **Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review if you had any thoughts!**  
 **/Primrue**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: You have Shadukiam to thank for this. After she told me she needed more the ideas just kept on coming, so here you are!**  
 **(Btw, if you haven't already: Check out her story The Alkahest! It's Dramione and it's amazing!)**

 **Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRED AND GEORGE! *throws confetti and lights fireworks***

Late Lunch, Chapter two

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

She had just managed to collapse the pigs' fortress when the entrance burst open.

Hermione looked up from her phone and observed the woman who'd almost forced the door off its hinges; plump, red hair, with defined laugh lines on her face, wearing a flower patterned dress. Everything about her would have given the impression she was a kind older woman had it not been for the vein on her forehead, which looked ready to explode any moment.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" she demanded, glaring at Madame Pince. "Where are those two headaches now?"

"Madame, I'm not sure I follow…"

Something about the way receptionist spoke had the other woman grow even more frustrated. "Lovely," she muttered to herself. "Another one."

Another what, Hermione never got to know. The redhead was starting off a rant at Pince about some rascals of hers, along with a lecture on common decency, and barely stopped to breathe. The more she spoke the more Hermione felt an urge to sit up straight and mind her posture. Eventually, when her spine was as straight as it could be, she even crossed her ankles.

"…and after driving all the way here, are you honestly telling me that you still have no idea what I'm talking about?"

"I assure you, Madame," said Madame Pince and continued despite the other woman gritting her teeth at the title, "if you would please calm down, we will be able to figure this thing out. Now, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for my sons. They were supposedly setting off some mayhem in town and got arrested."

"Excuse me," piped Hermione. "I think I might know who you're referring to."

The woman's face softened at the look of the young girl. "Really, dear?"

"Yes, I believe you're talking about the twins?"

"They've been here then?"

"No, my father is driving them right now. But they should be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you," said the woman. "At least someone here was able to be of some assistance."

Great. Like Madame Pince needed more reason to dislike Hermione. Ever since she'd accidentally spoiled one of her favourite novels when she was thirteen the receptionist had been stone cold. And the way she now turned her nose up behind the desk in indignation told of no foreseeable improvement in their relationship.

"Oh, no problem," said Hermione weakly. She prepared to return to her game when the woman sat down next to her. She held back a sigh. She really detested small talk. Especially since that meant talking to people she didn't know.

It seemed the woman was trying to amend that last part, however. "Molly Weasley," she said, holding her hand out.

Hermione put on a polite smile. "Hermione Granger."

Mrs. Weasley shook her hand and after letting go, she said, "That's a very pretty name for a girl. Quite unique too. Much like my Ginevra, in fact-"

That's when it clicked. Red hair…Weasley…Ginevra…

"You're Ronald's mother!" Hermione said, nearly shouting in excitement. She loved figuring things out.

Mrs. Weasley blinked. "Why yes, dear, I am. Do you know him?"

Hermione smiled. "No, but my best friend Harry does. They're in the same class. And I've seen Ginny on the football field sometimes, too. Though, I'm older than both of them so I haven't spoken much to either."

"Well, they're well-mannered children, so if you ever decide to then I'm sure they wouldn't bite your head off," Mrs. Weasley laughed. "They're wonderful really, much unlike my other two mischief makers…"

That's when lightning bolt number two hit Hermione. And this time it hit her hard.

"So the twins, they would be Fred and George, correct?"

"Unfortunately, yes," sighed Mrs. Weasley. "I love all my children dearly, but those two are making my hair grey many decades in advance…"

Hermione wasn't listening. Fred and George were indeed mischief makers. The biggest ones the school had ever seen. They were a year older, popular and basically the complete opposite of her.

And she'd asked her dad if one of them was cute…

If they found out it was her they'd never let her live it down, even after the years' worth of effort she'd spent trying to stay under their radar. Granted, she was known throughout school as bookworm Granger, and while she had to endure the occasional pestering from Draco Malfoy for it, the twins had never so much as glanced her way. Lucky, seeing as how they were fairly imaginative in their pranks, whereas Malfoy only resorted to calling her hair a bird's nest. Hermione mentally scoffed. As if she didn't already know.

"Are you all right, Hermione? You look a bit squeamish."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thank you. Just a bit peckish. Can't wait till Dad gets back so we can go for lunch."

That had been the wrong thing to say. "Oh, heavens, you haven't eaten yet? Hold on, I think I might have something in my bag," said Mrs. Weasley and frantically searched her purse for something edible.

"No, really, I'm all right," Hermione hurried. "My Dad will be here any minute probably-"

"Hush, child, I'll have none of that nonsense. After what you've done to help me the least I can do is keep you fed." Mrs. Weasley procured a sandwich and immediately handed it to her. "There you are, eat up."

Hermione found herself stunned in amusement. The woman was such a… _mother_ through and through. No wonder she'd successfully raised four children.

"Seven," Mrs. Weasley corrected her while she ate, and chuckled. "I thank you for commending my parenting but I do have three more of them running around."

Hermione almost choked. "Se-seven?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Weasley, as if having pushed seven human beings out of her body was perfectly normal. "There's my oldest, Bill, who's recently moved back to settle down with his fiancée…French, that one, as well…"

Hermione got the impression she didn't like her future daughter-in-law very much, and wondered why, but kept silent. She listened as Mrs. Weasley told her about her other sons Charlie and Percy; one working as a marine-biologist whose dream was to swim with sharks without needing a cage; and the other who worked for the government as a secretary.

Hermione was so engrossed that she almost didn't notice when the door opened.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: This story will have shorter chapters, but I hope that's okay (mind you, I wasn't even planning on continuing at all haha). Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	3. Chapter 3

Late Lunch, Chapter 3

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Honestly, Mum," said a voice that sounded familiar. "You're laying it on a bit thick. Percy's not exactly 'invaluable' to his office; he spends his days bringing people coffee."

Mrs. Weasley's friendly demeanor dropped as soon as she spotted her son. "And I suppose getting arrested is a much greater feat?"

He grimaced at her shrill voice, but said no more.

"It was an accident…" Behind the first boy appeared his equally tall and freckled twin. "Mum, we never meant to set them off, we were only transporting them-"

"Oh, so the police made a mistake, then?"

"Actually, ma'am, "said Hermione's father, just entering the room himself, closely followed by his partner, James Potter, "we never planned on arresting them. The two of them were only carrying some fireworks when they set off, and however dodgy a place they got them from," he sent a pointed look to the twins, "it was clearly not intentional."

Mrs. Weasley appeared to calm down. "So there won't any charges?"

"There will a tiny fine, but nothing else," said James.

Mrs. Weasley gulped a bit at the mention of money, but it was followed by a mostly relieved exhale. She thanked him and Hermione's dad and then turned to Fred and George. "This better be the last time something like this happens, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Mum," they replied in synch.

"Good. Now I'll go settle the matter of fines with the police and you'll stay right where you are. Understood?"

"Yes, Mum," they promised again.

Mrs. Weasley walked off, escorted by James, to the back.

"I just have to help fill in the report and then we'll be off, all right, sweetheart?" said Officer Granger.

"I'll be fine, Dad" said Hermione, remembering too late the promise she'd made to herself to hinder the twins from finding out who she was. Stupid, really, now that she thought about it. For one thing they shared the same last name.

Out of the corner of her eye she could spot one of the boys shift to look at her. _Must be the one from the car_ , Hermione thought. _He better not say anything_.

To her surprise the twin did say nothing, just as she'd hoped, and merely took out his phone and began scrolling. His brother followed his example.

They really must be on their best behaviour around their mother because Hermione had never seen them this quiet or still before at school. It was strange how that unsettled her more than if she'd been forced to hear their chatter.

"Herms!"

Oh, good lord…

As she feared, the twins shared a look of amusement at her nickname and Hermione wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

"What?" she snapped.

Sirius grinned. "No need for fangs, I'm only here to tell you your father is going to be another five minutes longer. Apparently, he was too busy to tell you himself."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. As if you weren't just hanging 'round Marlene's desk anyway."

Sirius frowned. "I really don't like what the hormones' done to you." He then caught the eyes of the very non-discreet eavesdroppers. "Who're these two, then?"

"Fireworks," Hermione explained, to which Sirius nodded in understanding.

"Surely you know us by more than that, Granger," said the twin who most likely was the twin from the car.

It was the first time either of them had directly addressed her and normally, Hermione would be too flustered to respond, but this was her element. It might be stuffy and worn-down, but she'd grown up in the station and so she found some courage in that. Also, he was looking at her as if he was testing her, and that did nothing but act as encouragement. Even if she wasn't quite sure what the test was. "How could I possibly forget?" she said, adding a dramatic gasp. "Sirius, I'm so sorry, I neglected to tell you that we are in the presence of _the_ toilet seat stealers of Hogwarts College."

The other twin snorted, but the car twin only appeared to be flattered. "See, I told you you knew."

Hermione almost laughed. His smile was positively infectious.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Well, it's an honour to meet you both. You know, I did my fair share of pranks back in the day. Yes, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth," he added to Hermione, who looked insulted.

"I didn't say anything!"

Madame Pince had long since put her headphones on to shut out their voices and so there was no one to shush her when she'd protested.

"Sirius, would you stop tormenting Hermione?" said James, appearing, and looking exhausted.

There were only ever three people Sirius Black listened to: his godson Harry, out of love; Harry's mother Lily, out of trust (and a tad bit fear); and Harry's father James, for all the reasons previously mentioned. Therefore it didn't come as much of a surprise to Hermione when the tattoo-covered policeman immediately stopped and apologized to her.

"Thank you," she said.

"The old dog might be wild, but at least I trained him enough to listen to me," said James, patting his friend's hair affectionately.

"I hate you both," grumbled Sirius.

That's when Hermione's father emerged from the back, Mrs. Weasley alongside him.

While she attended to her sons, Hermione was preparing to leave with her father.

"We're _finally_ getting that curry?"

He chuckled. "Yes, Hermione, we are. All right, grab your things. And James, Sirius, I'll be back in a few!"

Hermione looked at the Weasley's. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Weasley," she said, and the woman returned the sentiment. She glanced at the twins. "Well…er…bye."

She moved quickly towards the door, but almost halted when she heard: "See you in school." It sounded sincere which confused her but she didn't even look back before heading out to follow her dad to his car, getting some food at last. Her near-empty stomach was growling in anticipation, and she felt something flutter inside, but suspected the latter was for a different reason entirely.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, two chapters in a row! It's April 1st, though, so I figured the occasion called for it! Hope you enjoyed, please review if you had any thoughts!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	4. Chapter 4

Late Lunch, Chapter 4

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Are you not going to eat that?"

Hermione blinked. "W-what?"

A few seconds passed before she realized what her friend had said, and scooted her plate of chips across the table.

"Thanks," said Harry. He began picking them of the plate and while he chewed, asked, "So what's got you so worried?"

She scoffed. "You know what."

Harry shrugged. "It's only going to be for a few weeks. Remus stopped by yesterday and told us Teddy's growing by the minute, so his leave might not even be for that long."

Hermione's mood softened slightly at her friends attempt to cheer her up. "That baby's lucky I adore him, because I don't think I could deal with the devil incarnate of a substitute his father left us with otherwise."

Harry laughed. "You know, I think she looks more like a toad than a devil."

Hermione grimaced at the image that popped into her head. "Oh, god, you're right."

This made Harry laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?"

The two of them looked up.

"Hi, Ron," said Harry, greeting his classmate. "Thought you were having lunch with the rest of chess club?"

Ron released his right hand's hold on his tray and, using his thumb, pointed to the far end of the dining area. "Was on my way. Just heard you laughing like mad man and figured I'd check in."

"First of all, I do not laugh like a mad man-"

"Actually, you kinda do, mate."

"Second," continued Harry, ignoring his friend, "Hermione and I were discussing the toad."

The other boy pulled a face. "Nasty piece of work, that one. Did you know she made Patricia Stimpson storm out of class?"

Hermione clucked her tongue impatiently. "Yes, _everyone_ knows. Also, I was there."

Ron seemed to only have just noticed her, but she could tell he was already fighting the urge to roll his eyes at her. "Anyway, should get a move on. See you later, Harry."

"Tell me why you're friends with him, again?" said Hermione, once Ron was out of earshot, feeling bitter about not even being granted a simple 'goodbye' by the boy.

Harry sighed. "Oh, come on, he's not all bad. It's just your personalities clashing, is all. If you spent more time together then maybe you'd find you have some things in common."

"Highly doubt that."

Harry sensed he wouldn't win this one and picked up where he left off with the chips. "Speaking of Ron, though," he said, dipping his food in ketchup, "Dad told me his brothers were at the station two days ago."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, they had set off some fireworks in town."

"Blimey, you were there?"

"James didn't tell you?"

"No, he just mentioned a pair of twins getting thoroughly scolded by their mother," said Harry. "I do think he secretly found them hilarious, though."

Both teenagers briefly shared a grin at James Potter's youthful nature.

"Well, I'm glad he didn't say anything, or else Mrs. Weasley surely would have arranged a lecture for him as well. And who knows how that would have ended."

"Awfully familiar with the rest of the Weasley's, are we?" teased Harry.

Hermione crossed her arms. "We engaged in conversation, yes."

Since Hermione hadn't specified that it had been Mrs. Weasley she'd spoken with the most, her friend asked if she'd also 'engaged in conversation' with the twins. Though his tone remained teasing, Hermione couldn't help but frown slightly.

Despite having spoken to the twins, and left on what she felt had been amicable terms, they hadn't approached her or given any hint of even remembering her past their encounter. She realized, of course, that it was naïve to assume that they would be on speaking terms simply because they'd exchanged a few words-well, her and _one_ of the twins, since she hadn't actually spoken to the other-but something about the words 'See you in school' had led her to believe differently.

"I sort of spoke to them," said Hermione. "Well, one of them."

Harry didn't even attempt to hide his surprise. "Really? Which one?" At her stare he quickly realized his mistake. "Right, twins, yeah," he said and smacked his forehead.

Hermione laughed. "Actually, I can tell them apart, I think. I just don't know which one's named what."

"Well, what did the one you spoke to look like?"

Hermione bit her lip. How to explain?

Harry noticed she was having trouble and looked around the room. "Oh, I know! Just point him out. "

Hermione looked over her shoulder to where Harry was looking. Sure enough, there sat the twins, laughing and talking to their huge group of friends. Among them, Hermione's classmate Katie Bell. Katie was covering her mouth at something a boy to her right said, and the boy watched in amusement as the she tried to hold her chuckles in. On the boy's other side (Hermione finally recalled his name being Lee Jordan) sat the twin she'd spoken to at the station, and whom she knew was the boy from the car.

"That one," Hermione said.

Harry looked to where she nodded. "Okay, let's see. I play football with them now and then and have gotten fairly good at telling them apart, but…" He drifted off, face scrunched up in concentration.

"Today, Harry."

"All right," he said, looking none too pleased with her impatient tone of voice, "That one, I'm pretty sure is…Fred." He eased back in his seat and nodded. "Yeah, that's Fred."

Hermione looked at the twin, taking in his broad shoulders and bright expression. _Huh,_ she mused, _Fred…_

Just as she finished that thought, the boy seemed to sense someone watching him and looked up. Both froze as their eyes met, Hermione in mortification at being caught staring, while Fred appeared to mostly be surprised. For a second they remained like this, gazes locked onto one another, until finally, Hermione snapped out of it when spotting a smirk build on Fred's lips.

Blushing, she turned away.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Eeeep! I'm so pleasantly surprised at how people are reacting to this story!**

 **Thank you for all your kind words, and thank you to all who followed and favorited last time.**

 **Some clarifications though: Fred and George are seventeen, Hermione is sixteen, and Harry and Ron are fifteen.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	5. Chapter 5

Late Lunch, Chapter 5

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The next couple of weeks were strange.

Having grown up as the daughter of a policeman, strangeness wasn't that foreign a concept for Hermione. But hearing about those peculiar cases her father got—some bordering on insanity, because honestly, no one would ever be dumb enough to believe you died simply because of the finger you'd chopped off and left behind—and what was happening to her right now were two very different things.

It was as if she had somehow become a beacon for Weasleys.

In the past two weeks alone, Hermione had been in contact with the family of redheads more than she had her whole life. While they'd attended the same school for years and always known of the other by reputation, something was different about the frequency in which she'd encountered them of late, or more specifically _one_ of the members . . .

Hermione had always been friendly with Ginny Weasley. Despite being branded as a know-it-all bookworm, the popular and spirited athletic girl always greeted her, maybe on occasion even ask her how things were going. But that had been the extent of their relationship. Now, though, it was as if everywhere Hermione turned, there the little redhead was. She wasn't sure how she did it because their school was huge and Ginny was two whole years younger than her and therefore had her lessons in an entirely different section. But the girl appeared determined. . .

It was Hermione's last lesson for the day when said redhead called her name, already adopting a familiarity usually reserved for people who'd been best friends for years, and Hermione had a millisecond of preparation before nearly being tackled down in the hallway, her notes flying everywhere.

"Blimey, Ginny!" she said, clutching her chest. "Do you want me to have a heart attack?"

"Sorry, 'Mione!" said Ginny, helping Hermione assemble the scattered papers. "I was just in a hurry to get you."

"You know, I'm not going anywhere, just the—"

"Library, yeah, got it." She handed her a stack of paper and they started walking. "I wanted to go with you, see if you could help me with some homework."

Hermione gave a tightlipped smile. "Sure."

There was a reason for Hermione's unease regarding this matter. Ginny was clever, but lately she'd gone from showing up at random places to seeking out Hermione to help with homework. A lot. So, either Hermione had begun emitting Weasley-attracting pheromones or Ginny was using her as a human homework-maker. . .

She shook her head, trying to push those dark thoughts aside. Perhaps Ginny simply wanted to be friends and Hermione was being unnecessarily suspicious. Yes, that must be it.

"Is there a reason why we're sprinting?"

While heading for the library, Ginny had taken the lead and increased their pace, bit by bit, until they were zooming past the other students in a blur. At her less athletic friend's question she slowed, although only a little. "What? Oh, no, yeah. I just want to make sure we get great seats."

"Great seats?"

"Yeah, with a nice window, that'd be a great setting," said Ginny brightly.

"Setting?"

"Honestly, 'Mione, just go with it."

"I—" Hermione started but then stopped and just shook her head. Just going with it wasn't exactly her forte but she supposed this was the sort of thing being friends with Ginny Weasley entailed. To be honest, Hermione found the spontaneity a bit exciting. It was so different from her own carefully planned ways.

They found a table that held up to Ginny's standards. It was nothing much, but Ginny seemed to like the four chairs, the window, and the slight secluded corner it was in. They set down their bags, Hermione having taken all of her things out when realizing Ginny kept glancing on her phone display.

"Waiting for someone?"

Ginny snapped her head up and if Hermione didn't know any better she'd say the girl was panicking. "What?"

"I said 'waiting for someone', as in are you expecting a call?"

Ginny visibly relaxed. "Oh. . .No, I'm just checking the time."

They started working after that. Occasionally, Ginny would glance at her phone or ask questions, but other than that time flew by. After half an hour Ginny received a text.

Hermione watched as she nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Would you just wait here, please," pleaded Ginny, "I've just got to take care of this."

"Er, sure—"

Before Hermione had even finished, she was out of sight. Shaking her head to herself in amusement, Hermione was just about to resume her studying when she heard footsteps approach.

"Sorry I'm la— oh, hello!" said a voice. " _You're_ not my sister."

Hermione damned everything she could think of, starting with her redheaded female friend. "Hi," she said, not really meeting the newcomer's eyes. She didn't have to, she'd know that voice anywhere.

Fred Weasley grinned at her. "Seen Gin around? She told me to meet her here."

"You just missed her. She should be back soon, though." Immediately Hermione cursed her own tongue. Why had she said that? Now he'd insist on staying. Last thing she needed was to make a fool out of herself in front of him, yet again.

Fred pulled out a chair. "Ah, then I'll just wait for her here," he said, predictably making himself comfortable opposite her.

"Brilliant," muttered Hermione, not quite able to hide her displeasure.

Fred cocked an amused eyebrow. "You're a strange one, Granger. You say one thing, but I swear it's like you mean another. Do you detest pleasant company, such as myself, that much?"

"Well, perhaps I'm simply busy," explained Hermione, "and any distraction is unwelcome at the moment."

This only made his grin wider. "Find me distracting, do you?"

She sighed, her cheeks growing warm. "If by distracting you mean loud and rambunctious then yes, I do."

Fred shrugged. "I was thinking more in the line of my devilishly handsome looks."

Hermione snorted. Yeah, so was she, but hell would have to freeze over before she admitted that aloud.

"Speaking of my good looks," said Fred, picking up a pencil Ginny had left behind and twirled it between his fingers. "I've been dying to know something."

"Okay," said Hermione, narrowing her eyes in suspicion, "what is it that you want to know?"

"If you agree."

She blinked. "Agree? Agree to what?"

Fred looked up from the pencil, focusing on her face, and Hermione tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach sprouting wings at the playful look he was giving her.

Fred smiled. "Do you agree that I'm cute?"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!**

 **Gosh, I love cliffhangers way too much.**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I squeal like a happy squirrel everytime I receive one! You guys are the best!**

 **Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed last time as well.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this one and will continue to read and enjoy in the future!  
Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	6. Chapter 6

Late Lunch, Chapter 6

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The first thought Hermione had was to congratulate herself for being right; Fred had been the twin from the car. Her second thought, however, was that she could _never_ let him find out the answer to his question. Never. Ever. She wouldn't allow it. _Ever_.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, staring at her paper as if preoccupied, feigning ignorance.

Not surprisingly, Fred laughed. "That's got to be a first. The great Hermione Granger not knowing something. C'mon, I know you know that it was me in the car."

"How?" she asked, but then attempted to correct herself. "I mean, hypothetically, if I knew what you were talking about, that is. How would you know that I knew?"

"Because you've been staring at me ever since we met at the station." Fred grinned. "I'm also interested in knowing how you tell me apart from my brother because not everyone are able to do that."

Hermione felt a brief panic set in. How much had she been staring at him? It must have been more than she'd realized if he was able to notice her eyes were solely on him and not him and his brother. "Listen, Fred," she started but bit her lip when she spotted the way his eyes flickered in surprise. Apparently he hadn't known she knew his name, and was now looking giddy at the reveal. Sod it all, he really was cute. Taking a steading breath, she continued, "I don't know what you think you saw, but I most definitely have not been staring at you."

"Yes, you have."

"I assure you, I haven't," she gritted through her teeth, feeling warmth seep to her face.

His eyes sparkled in amusement. "You really are a stubborn one. Ginny said you were, but I never truly realized how much."

Her embarrassment was instantly pushed aside by astonishment. "You've been talking to Ginny about me?"

Fred blinked as if realizing what he'd just said. He dropped Ginny's pencil and rubbed his neck, fidgeting in his seat. "It's not what you think—I just got curious, you know, after the station."

"Er. . .sure," Hermione said, but to be honest she had no idea what he was on about.

They both sat in a brief awkward silence, avoiding each other's eyes, when Ginny popped up from behind a bookshelf.

"There you are, Fred!" She patted her brother on the back, almost forcefully. "Been looking for you everywhere."

Fred sent her dubious look. "Have you really? Because I'm pretty sure you told me to meet you here. In _this_ corner of the library. By _this_ table."

"Did I? Oh, well," she said, shrugging, and put her hands on her hips, surveying the two of them. She appeared to be looking for something as her gaze zig-zagged between them, but the more she looked the more she frowned.

"So?" asked Fred, seemingly unaware of his sister's increasing discontent mood.

"So what?"

"So, do you want the house-key or not?"

"Right, the _key_ ," she said, slowly. "Because I forgot mine."

Fred and Hermione exchanged a look.

"Right," said Fred. He rose and produced a key from his back pocket. "Keep a better eye on this one, won't you?"

"Will do, big bro," said Ginny.

Fred gave her an approving nod, then turned to Hermione. "It was nice chatting with you, Granger."

Hermione nodded. "You too."

To her confusion the boy didn't step away, but instead leaned across the table towards her. She instantly avoided looking at his face, too flustered by the proximity to take a look. But there was nothing she could do about the smell. _His_ scent. It smelled of pine, which brought her thoughts to the countryside, of nature and wilderness, but there was also something. . .fruity? Sweet. Like him, she supposed. The sensation overwhelmed her and she had to remind herself to breathe and blink like a normal, functional human being.

Fred seemed oblivious of the effect he was having on her and brought one of his long fingers to her notebook. With a knowledgeable tone, he spoke. "If you're subtracting a polynomial you need to make sure you subtract the whole polynomial." He glanced at her and smirked at her open mouth. "The way to do that is to put a parenthesis around it, which you forgot here. Therefore," he scribbled something down using her pen, "the answer is X squared minus X." He winked at her as he returned the pen. "See you around, Granger." And as quickly as he'd gotten close, he pulled away.

She stared lamely at his retreating form, her mind spinning.

"Sorry about that, he loves to show off," said Ginny, taking her seat back.

Hermione was still too stunned to get out anything coherent, so she settled on a nod.

Ginny then began speaking about a party happening this weekend, but Hermione barely absorbed any of it. She was too busy thinking about Fred Weasley, and how inevitably doomed she now was because of him.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Two updates in one day? What? Don't get used to it, I just couldn't resist.**

 **Thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites I've already received in these few hours alone! You sure know how to spoil a gal!**

 **Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	7. Chapter 7

Late Lunch, Chapter 7

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

"In the past twenty minutes? Yes, but not nearly enough."

Hermione dropped her puppy eyes and scoffed. "Don't act like I'm forcing you to do something incredibly horrible. It's just a tiny party."

Harry frowned. "And I told you that it's not about the party, it's about the fact that _you're_ the one making _me_ go to this. It's so weird. Remember the last time we went to one of these things together? You were _miserable_ and therefore _I_ was miserable. If you think Parvati Patil will ever consider going out with me ever again after that mope-fest then you're out of your mind."

She patted his arm consolingly. "I'm still sorry about that. But you know how I am at social gatherings."

"Which is why I'm so confused. Hermione, why are we here?"

Hermione wished she could answer him, but she hardly knew herself. Everything she remembered was absently agreeing to something Ginny said and apparently that was in kind of signing a legally binding document, because if you promised Ginevra Molly Weasley something then you very much obliged to follow it through. And thus, she was now standing with her best friend on the front steps of Seamus Finnigan's house, dreading what lay waiting inside those booming walls.

"I promised Ginny," she said finally.

Harry shook his head. "And that's another thing. Lately, you've been spending a lot of time with that girl, and you barely know her."

"I know her enough, Harry. Besides, how am I supposed to gain new friends by not speaking to anyone?"

He sighed. "I'm glad you're trying. I am. I just don't want you to try and be something you're not. If they make you feel like you have to then they can sod off. You're great the way you are."

This was shaping up to be one of those rare heart-warming speeches Harry would throw at the people he cared about. Last one he'd given had been directed at his godfather, a few months ago. One wouldn't think it when you looked at him, but Sirius Black had had quite the rough childhood. As a result he had his fair share of dark times and while James had been like a brother to him, Harry had been a light in Sirius darkness ever since he was born. Hermione thought it a big and unfair responsibility for a child to have, but it was one that Harry didn't mind one bit. He loved Sirius.

And he loved Hermione, and right now she knew that she had to assure him that he didn't have to shoulder her pain as well. That boy had a hero-complex.

She smiled at her best friend and took his hand. "Thank you, Harry. But I'm being perfectly honest when I say that I'm here of my own volition."

Harry relaxed. "Good." Then he faced the house. "Let's do this."

They rang the doorbell and were immediately greeted by an incredibly intoxicated Seamus.

"No, Dean, I'm the host, I have to open—Hello!"

Harry laughed. "Hi, there, mate. Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all, not at all! The more the merrier! C'mere!"

Dean Thomas stepped forward to stop Seamus from hugging them. "Seamus, maybe keep your hands on your boyfriend, yeah? No offence, Harry. It's just that I know he gets a bit. . . _friendly_ , when he's had a drink or two."

"That's an understatement," said Harry, and the two of them shared a grin that Hermione didn't quite understand. Maybe a story for some other time.

They entered the house.

"I'm glad to see you here too, Hermione," said Seamus. "Not often you're out and about, I mean."

Hermione, having been busy taking in the surroundings, jumped. "Oh! Er, no, I tend to stay indoors, and thank you. Glad to see you as well."

"Dean, babe, I want to dance," said Seamus suddenly.

Dean kissed him on the top of his head. "Sure thing."

Seamus looked at Hermione and Harry and told them to help themselves to anything, before disappearing to the living room with Dean.

"What do you suggest we do now?" asked Hermione.

"Get something to drink," said Harry.

They maneuvered their way through the narrow hallways, greeting a few familiar faces, trying to find the kitchen. Once there, Harry made them some drinks he knew how to mix since Hermione had zero clue about any of these sort of things. It wasn't as if she'd never had a drink before, it was just that never bothered to learn how to make them.

While she sipped and felt the alcohol already making its way through her body, she looked out the kitchen window. There was quite the group on the lawn, making a ruckus, and playing with what appeared to be brooms and sticks. Hermione laughed when she realized they were pretending to fly on them.

"Want to take a closer look?" asked Harry.

Hermione nodded. She didn't really feel comfortable in the loud house anyway. Perhaps the evening would go on better being spent outside.

She'd barely stepped foot on the lawn when she stopped. Four of those broom riding idiots sported red hair.

"Hermione?" said Harry and looked at her, concerned.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, I'm all right—"

One of the players heard them and spun his head in their direction. Though his red hair had startled her at first, it was his smile that made her heartbeat quicken now.

"Herms!" said Fred, and threw his broom aside.

His team mates were groaning as he jogged towards her, arguing that he simply couldn't leave the match like that, but it seemed Fred didn't care. In one swift move he hoisted Hermione up in his arms, pressing her against his chest. She gave a tiny shriek, not enjoying having to leave the comfort of the ground.

"Herms," said Fred, again, this time while rocking her tiny frame back and forth. "Hello."

"Hi, Fred," said Hermione. "Would you mind letting me down?"

He made a disappointed sound, which she heard clearly rumbling through his chest, but the boy did as told, and her feet found surface once more. However, he did not completely release his hold on her. One of Fred's arms stayed around her shoulders, but Hermione found she didn't mind. She was blushing like crazy, though.

Red-faced and warm, Hermione tore her eyes away from him, meeting Harry's extremely perplexed stare.

'What?', he mouthed.

She shrugged in response, saying that she didn't have any idea what was happening either.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Tihihihihi. . .(that's swedish for teeeheheeheehee)**

 **Yeah, that's basically all I have to say. But also:**

 **Thanks to all of you who favorited, followed and reviewed. You guys are amazing and I send all of you penguin hugs (I don't know if that's a thing but it sounded cute).**

 **Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	8. Chapter 8

Late Lunch, Chapter 8

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Bloody hell, Fred, we were nearly winning over there," said Ron. He took a moment to observe his brother and the bookworm he didn't really like. "What is going on here?"

"This is Herms, Ronald," said Fred, looking at Hermione fondly. He was stroking her hair now.

Hermione groaned. "Fred, would you please refrain from calling me that? Just call me Granger, or Hermione even."

Fred considered her words. "Hermione is a nice name."

She blushed. "Thank you."

Ron blinked at the bizarre scene. He looked at Harry. "What—"

"Don't ask me, mate, I don't know."

Hermione normally would have glared at them for talking about her as if she wasn't there, but she was a bit preoccupied at the moment. The summer heat lingering from the sun that was setting had everything already sticking to you like a second skin, but the feel of Fred's body against hers had her nearly dehydrated. Was there even anything left to sweat out? Oh, god. . .what if he felt her sweat? Was he grossed out? He probably was.

She shifted, and Fred removed his arm. A small pit of disappointment settled in her stomach at the fact that he'd done it so easily, but one look at his face told her he'd only done it for her, and that he even seemed a bit sad of having to let go.

She wanted nothing more than to get back in his arms but the moment was gone.

"Harry!" said Fred and greeted the boy. Hermione noticed that he didn't lift this one up, and felt a bit smug. "Lovely to see you, mate!"

"Likewise," said Harry. "Been a while since we've played."

"Yeah, I know, just been a bit hard to find a time that suits everyone, you know? Wood—remember Wood?— has been insisting now for a while, though, to get our old team back together, but I think he's barking. For one thing he's not even in town."

Harry laughed. "Of course I remember him! He was the one who told me when I was eleven to train five hours a day, because I had _potential_."

"Like I said, barking." Fred shook his head and then pointed behind him. "We're playing a game of flying football, if you're interested. Mind you, most of us have had a few drinks—"

"Oh, really?" said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

Fred looked down at her and grinned. "Cheeky, this one." He poked her cheek as if to emphasize. She laughed.

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "I don't think I can stomach this."

"Oh, grow up, Ronniekins," said Ginny, smiling widely and appearing with George. "They're adorable."

"It's unnatural, this is," said Ron. "I haven't seen them exchange a single word before tonight, and now they're all. . ." he waved his arms around, trying to convey what he felt, but then got distracted by the cup she was holding. "What's that?"

"Relax," Ginny sighed. "It's Coke. I know better than to get pissed with my brothers around."

"And thank god for that," said George.

Ginny turned to him. "You know, I do find it rather unfair that you're all getting sloshed while I'm being treated like a child."

"And you know we have a deal, sis," said George. "No drinking, and we won't tell Mum about you being here."

Ginny grumbled but made no further protests.

"So like I said, before I was rudely interrupted," said Fred, sending Hermione a teasing look, "Why don't you join us for a game?"

Hermione blinked. "Me? But I'm rubbish at sports."

Harry chuckled. "She's lying, she's actually quite adequate."

Hermione scoffed. "Wow, thank you."

"Anytime."

"Yeah," said Ginny, suddenly alight once more, "Join us Hermione! It'll be fun!"

She was basically jumping on the spot and Hermione sighed. "Fine. Not like you'll let me say no anyway, are you?"

Ginny grinned. "You know me too well. Potter, you're on my team."

"Er, all right," said Harry, letting himself get dragged away by the redhead.

Hermione laughed at his helpless expression. She turned to Fred. "So, you'll teach me how to play?"

Fred wiggled his eyebrows. "I'll teach you a lot of things."

Ron made a gagging noise.

Hermione blushed but attempted to keep her face straight. "Sure you will."

"No, I'm serious," said Fred, putting his hand on the small of her back as they walked towards the rest of the people playing. "I'll teach you everything I know."

"I'm not sure I have five minutes," said Hermione.

Fred laughed.

"Don't fret, Granger," advised George, walking on the other side of Fred," It won't even take that long, I assure you."

This time Hermione laughed.

Fred turned to his brother. "Oh, that's how we're playing it, are we? Go join Ginny and we'll sort this out, man to man."

"You mean, by playing a game where we kick a ball, put a broom between our legs and make swooshing noises?"

"That's the one!"

George smirked. "I'll make you regret this, Freddie."

"Not if you make me regret it first!"

"That doesn't even make sense," Ron and Hermione chorused.

They looked at each other, stunned by having agreed on something, and tiny smiles erupted on their faces.

"Oy! Are we playing or what?" said Ginny, simultaneously supplying Harry with a rake. "Sorry, we're out of brooms," she said.

"No problem, it actually looks like I've got a flashier version of yours," said Harry.

Ginny frowned. "Now I want it."

"Too bad."

Ginny turned to Hermione. "Hey, 'Mione! Your friend's hot but he's super-rude!"

This made the twins snap their heads to their sister.

"Hey!" they shouted.

"Don't talk about Harry like that," said George.

"Yeah, he's not hot—"said Fred.

"—and he's _not_ super-rude," said George.

"He's _super_ -hot and super- _nice_ ," they finished in unison.

Ron let out a huge groan. "This family's ridiculous," he said and stalked over to where Harry stood, "Pay no attention to them, mate."

"Sort of hard not to," said Harry, torn between feeling flattered and disturbed.

Hermione picked up one of the discarded brooms. "Aren't we playing?"

"Thank you!" said Lee Jordan, standing next to four others by one of the goalposts. Hermione identified them as Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Hermione's two classmates Katie Bell and Cho Chang. All of them bore signs of impatience.

"Hiya, Hermione," said Katie.

"Hi," said Hermione. "How are you?"

"Mighty well, thank you. Or I was until those pricks decided to leave."

Hermione laughed, but it was slightly nervous. "Sorry about that."

Katie waved her off. "I doubt you could have done anything about it. But if you think you can haul Fred's arse over here and get us started again that would be lovely."

Hermione blinked. "Er. . .I'll try." She didn't see why Katie thought she had any control over Fred, but decided to try. "Fred," she called out, "I thought you were going to teach me how to play."

Fred turned around from where he stood, grinning. "That I did." To her surprise he immediately strolled up to her and explained the rules.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Ain't no party like a Weasley twin party because a Weasley twin party is. . .actually Seamus's party and they occupy the entire backyard. Rude.**

 **Jokes aside, I'm so happy that so many of you have reviewed! You're honestly the nicest people ever and cute as kittens!**

 **AND OMG 100 FOLLOWERS ALREADY! YOU'RE AWESOME YOU GUYS GAAAH!**

 **As soon as I've recovered from this pleasant surprise I'll start working on the next chapters, okay? You're all amazing!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	9. Chapter 9

Late Lunch, Chapter 9

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. Of course, she had had a bit to drink, but no more than to get a bit tipsy. She never drank to get pissed. Unlike her best friend.

If Harry could remember anything in the morning she knew he'd be embarrassed out of his skull. Right now he was circling Cho Chang on his rake, trying to dribble past her. Or Hermione guessed he was trying to dribble. His moves weren't exactly graceful.

"Harry!" said Cho, laughing. "I need the ball too!"

"I can't let you win," said Harry, kicking the ball and going around her. "I need to score, and I won't let you take it, Chang."

"There's no way you're scoring! Even with Ron at the goal," said Cho.

"Oy!" said Ron, but his argument was immediately deemed invalid by a burp.

"Am I the only sober one here?" asked an exasperated Ginny.

"Probably," said Cho, smiling apologetically at her. While her eyes had diverted, Harry took advantage and kicked the ball past her. "What! Oh, no you don't, Potter!"

She hurried after him, both of them unaware that people lingered behind, too amused by the scene to actually engage.

Next to her, Hermione heard Fred chuckle. "They look absolutely ridiculous."

"I think it's safe to say we all do," said Hermione, gesturing to the brooms they'd tucked between their legs.

Fred looked at her and laughed softly. Heat rose to her cheeks, which had nothing to do with the cider she'd had a second ago. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she strived to break the silence.

"So, how come I've never heard of your math-skills before?" Hermione mentally slapped herself. Of course she'd bring up school. Why wouldn't she do that at a _party_?

Fred appeared to be thinking along those lines as well, but unlike her it didn't make him groan in frustration. Instead, he gave her question a thought and said, "Perhaps for the same reason I never heard of your lovely cheekiness. People see what's easiest in others. Put them into boxes."

Hermione nodded. "All I ever really knew about you was that you stole toilet seats. And pulled pranks on people."

"Exactly," said Fred. "And that's because being good in maths doesn't really fit in with my rebel persona."

Hermione snorted. He quirked an eyebrow at her which she responded with a roll of her eyes. Thinking over his words she grew curious. "So, what _did_ you know about me?" she asked.

Fred shrugged. "Your name was Granger and you liked books and stuff."

"I 'liked books and stuff'?"

Fred laughed. "Oh, come on, Granger. You just said that all you knew of me was that I stole toilet seats. Which is odd because I've stolen plenty of other things too."

She felt her lips pull up at his attempt to lighten the mood. "I suppose it's partly my fault," she said. "Do you know how hard I tried to stay away from you guys?"

Fred looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why would you do that?"

"Well, it might have escaped your notice, but we're not exactly alike. I was worried you'd tease me."

"You worried we'd tease you for enjoying school?"

Hermione shifted her stance and glanced at the ground. "Well, yeah. . ."

Fred frowned. "That's stupid."

"I don't think I've ever been called stupid before," said Hermione.

"I didn't mean it like that. I know you're not stupid," said Fred. "I'm just confused as to why you'd think that about me—about us—and I can't say I like it. We're not bullies."

Hermione felt a bit stressed. "I know, I know. . .I mean, now I do. You and your friends always pulled stuff on others though, and that got me scared."

"That's because they deserved it, Hermione," said Fred, matter-of-factly.

"Montague deserved to get locked inside the janitor's closet?"

Fred's mouth twisted as if he was in slight pain. "We didn't intend for him to get trapped so long. We figured they'd find him fast enough. But yeah, we caught him bullying little Colin Creevey, so we locked the git inside."

Though disapproval was still evident in her expression, Fred looked relieved to find that most of it had dissipated. He grinned. "And from what I've heard, you're not that innocent. A little birdy told me you were the one who broke Draco Malfoy's nose two years ago."

Hermione blushed. "He didn't want that spread around and neither did I, so no one really knows. I'm guessing Ginny told you?" It had only been a few days ago that Hermione herself had divulged this information to his sister. Ginny was like a sponge and soaked up gossip like nothing else.

"'Course she did," said Fred. "She's been telling me a lot of things about you lately. Like the nose, and how the only thing that makes you curse like a sailor is that Umbridge woman."

"She's a bloody menace and should go back to hell," said Hermione immediately, regretting nothing. She spotted Fred smirking. "Pleased it worked?"

"Very much so," he said. "Sorry, but I just had to see it for myself."

She sighed. "Can't blame you for being curious."

"If it helps, me and George hate her too. And er. . ." he lowered his voice. "The fireworks we picked up were actually supposed to go into her office."

Hermione gasped. "Fred! She could have gotten severely injured!"

"I know, I know. It's a good thing it didn't go as planned. We didn't really think that one through. George and I are considering setting up a new plan, though. A less lethal one."

"Why do I get the feeling you're proposing to me?" Hermione asked, before realizing what she'd just said. "I mean—proposing as in business, not as in, you know—"

Fred laughed. "Yes, we'd be interested in your brains, Granger. What do you say, bookworm and pranksters uniting against a common enemy?"

The more she thought about it, the more she found the idea appealing. "I can't believe it, but yes, I'd love to."

Fred grinned. "Brilliant. It's a deal."

"Oy, lovebirds, we're four-nil!" said Lee. In the background Harry and George were high-fiving.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: I honestly believe I have the nicest reviewers ever. Thank you so much for leaving comments and following and adding this story to your favorites!**

 **Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	10. Chapter 10

Late Lunch, Chapter 10

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

When Hermione woke up her first thought was that the birds outside were being too loud and the sun far too bright. Her second was that her whole body was aching. Getting up on her elbows, she looked around. She's been sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor. Next to her, up on the bed, she heard Harry groan.

"Whaddime is it?"

Hermione blinked, struggling to get some of the crust off her eyes. She squinted at the clock on Harry's bedside table.

"Half past ten."

Harry groaned again.

Hermione, meanwhile, got up, and stretched as well as she could with her stiff limbs. When she was sure her neck wouldn't get locked in place if she turned it to the side, she proceeded to put on her clothes, starting with her jeans which then would be followed by her top. Midway, however, she decided to forgo the top and instead keep wearing the comfortable blue t-shirt Harry leant her whenever she stayed the night, and went on to the bathroom where she washed her face (avoiding the mirror) and brushed her teeth.

Once that was done she got back into her best friend's room and gave him a nudge with her foot. "Come on, get up. Your mum probably has breakfast ready for us."

It took another five minutes of poking before Harry was walking behind her down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"Look who's finally up," announced Lily Potter. She and James were seated at the table, enjoying some tea and biscuits. "There's some bacon and eggs in the pan."

"Thank you," said Hermione, walking to the stove and helping herself. She was glad to find that the food was still somewhat warm, seeing as how she had no energy nor patience to heat it up again. She sat down next to Lily and started eating.

"Well, go on, your mother made you food," said James. He was looking at Harry, the latter not having moved since sitting down and settled on pouring himself half a glass of orange juice.

"I don't know if I can stomach anything right now," he explained.

James slowly folded his newspaper, putting it a neat pile in front of him. He adjusted his glasses and, ignoring her protests, reached over and stole one of Hermione's bacon slices. He animatedly waved the pork in his son's face.

"James!" said Lily.

"What? He think he's adult enough to drink, he should deal with the consequences."

Harry began looking green and struggled to avoid getting grease in his face. "Dad!"

"James, please! Don't act as if you never woke up hungover! If I had two pence for every time I've found you and Sirius blacked out after getting piss drunk the night before—"

"Lily, dear, I'm sorry, but I'm busy teaching our son a lesson."

"I'll teach you a lesson, James Charlus Potter!"

"Mum, your yelling isn't helping!" exclaimed Harry.

"Oh? You want to sass me, Harry James? After I'm trying to defend your underage drinking to your policeman father?"

Hermione calmly ate her eggs as the three of them squabbled. After finishing half of them, her phone gave a ring, indicating a text. When unlocking the screen, Hermione stared.

"Who is it?" asked Harry, buttering the toast his mother and father had forced on him.

"Er. . .Fred," said Hermione.

She could tell he was struggling to decide whether or not he found this surprising. Eventually, there was his telltale shrug, and Hermione bit her lip.

"C'mon, it's a bit strange, isn't it? We only spoke a little yesterday, and now he's sending me. . ." Hermione looked at the text, "horribly bad jokes."

Harry's brows rose up his forehead. "Are you really that dense?"

Lily set aside her mug. "Dense? Our Hermione? What are you talking about, Harry?"

Hermione sent him a glare, urging him not to divulge any information on this to his parents, but as usual it was futile. The Potters told each other everything.

"'Mione has a guy who likes her, and it's obvious to everyone but her," said Harry. "She keeps insisting that they're only friends even though he bothered to spend his entire evening last night with her."

"Really?" Lily turned to Hermione, who was blushing. "This is interesting. What's his name?"

Hermione felt like she was telling her own parents about a boyfriend, which was so absurd since neither was true. "His name is Fred, he's funny and nice but would you please tell your son that he's not interested in me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, we've barely spoken—"

Lily shook her head. "Doesn't prevent him from being interested in you, 'Mionekins." She glanced at James. "Trust me."

James looked up from his newspaper. "Sharing stories are we, Lily?"

"Just had some memories brought to mind, love. Horrible ones, too. Remember when I told you you were a git and you took that as a sign to propose a third time?"

James smiled fondly at his wife. "Ah, yes. It was spring. The flowers blooming reminded me of you."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned to Hermione again. "See? Even if you call them names they come back."

Hermione smiled, but said, "I don't think Fred's like that."

Lily nodded approvingly. "A boy with self-respect. Impressive."

"Who needs self-respect when they can have you, my dear?"

"You make me want to pull my hair out."

Harry and Hermione laughed.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: In a world where Lily and James live I just HAD to show you how they spend their Sundays.**

 **Thank you as always for the kind and amazing reviews you leave me. They fuel my writing and make me smile so much!**

 **Thank you also to everyone who followed and added this to their favorites.**

 **Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	11. Chapter 11

Late Lunch, Chapter 11

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 _The cloudless sky shifted into a brighter blue as the sun rose, and though not yet half a circle it was already casting an orange glow over the tree tops and roofs. Through this idyllic scenery Harry and Hermione's silhouettes stumbled, their voices echoing on the street as they passed the picket fences and neatly mowed lawns. They moved slowly, Harry more so than her, both heading to the Potters after a night of festivities at Seamus's._

" _I can't believe you shook his hand!" Harry said. His own right hand rose to his mouth and the other clutched his stomach and Hermione worried he was feeling sick, but soon realized that he was only laughing at her._

 _She swatted him on the arm. "What's so funny about that? So I shook his hand. What else would you have me do?"_

 _Harry's unfocused eyes traveled to her face and he grinned stupidly. "You're so clueless, aren't you, 'Mione?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _He fancies you!"_

 _Hermione gaped. "I beg your pardon?"_

 _Harry made a 'pffft' sound. "You're so old!"_

" _Harry James Po—"_

" _Fred Weasley obviously, totally fancies you!"_

 _Hermione reddened. "You take that back."_

 _Harry grinned. "He fancies you and you fancy him."_

" _You take that back this instant, Harry!"_

 _That's when Harry realized what he'd done and sobered. "No, please, not the cheeks, Hermione, please—"_

 _But it was too late. The brown haired girl got a grip on both Harry's cheeks and she rejoiced in the immediate embarrassment she made him feel._

Hermione's lips twitched at the memory and she had to stop herself from full on grinning as she rode her bike back home.

Once arriving outside the fence surrounding the Grangers' house, she stepped off and parked the bike by the driveway. This was followed by a quick double check of her appearance, going over the state of her clothes and hair as well as she could without a mirror before entering the house. When she'd left the Potters Harry had assured her she looked fine, but she wasn't taking any risks. Though her best friend's parents were relatively lenient, Hermione's parents certainly wouldn't approve of her outgoings in the future if she came home looking like a wreck. But as long as she called, and let them check in once in a while, they trusted her to be careful. Harry accompanying her didn't hurt either.

Sufficiently satisfied with the state of her own being she stepped inside and was immediately greeted by an orange fur ball. She knelt down and scratched it behind the ear. "Hi, Crookshanks."

She heard footsteps.

"He's been a right mess without you as always," said Hermione's mother, appearing from the living room. "Woke us up in the dead of night _howling_ , if you'd believe."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," said Hermione, smiling. She stood up, much to the cat's dismay, and reached for her mum. "Sorry I'm so late, Lily and James insisted on breakfast and lunch."

Her mum hugged her back and followed Hermione upstairs to her room.

"Did you give them my love?"

Hermione entered the room and settled herself on her bed, her mother lingering by the doorway. "Yes, and as always, they send some with me to you."

Her mum smiled. "I do wish I got to spend more time with them, but of course we're all very busy nowadays. What with Lily's new shifts at the hospital, and mine at the clinic. . ."

"Yes, well, at least Dad and James see each other almost every day."

"And don't think he lets me forget it. You know, sometimes I wish Sirius was James' partner instead."

Hermione groaned. "Do you have any idea what would happen if that were true? Murder. Mayhem. And all because they'd be too busy playing around than to do actual police work. Is that what you want, Mum?"

She laughed. "No, of course not, but sometimes I do find myself scared your father will someday develop a crush on the man."

" _Mum_!"

"What? He's younger and exciting, can't blame me for wondering. He's also quite goodlooking—"

"He's like a second father to me, so please stop talking," said Hermione, massaging her temples.

Her mother chuckled, amused by her daughter's discomfort, but changed the subject, "How was last night?"

"Oh, the usual," said Hermione.

"Really? Because from what I gathered by your lack of distressed text messages, it must have been rather special."

Hermione sighed. "Okay," she said, smiling. "it was great. I talked to people, and I didn't hate it. And we played this game—"

Hermione's mother listened as she talked about the previous evening and she noticed how her smile grew the more she divulged.

"I'm so happy you had a great time, darling," she said, sounding as genuine as she looked.

"Thanks, Mum," said Hermione. "Though, I would love to take a shower, so would you mind. . .?"

"Oh! Of course! Just remember your father needs your help in the garden when you're finished. He's got a new project, I don't know. _One_ day off and he's being busy. You take after him, you know."

Hermione laughed. "I know, and we're both going to take it easy more often. You're right."

When the door closed Hermione walked into her bathroom and stripped out of her clothes.

The water washed away the dirt and sweat she'd accumulated over the night and she felt refreshed. When adding shampoo to her hair, the move reminded her of another hand on her head.

 _He stroked my hair_ , she thought, blushing. It wasn't often people touched her hair, and thinking back, it had seemed a bit more intimate than she'd realized.

Hermione wasn't stupid, she knew that there was a chance Fred fancied her. But even as her brain provided examples to support this claim she couldn't help but ask herself why? Why would he like her?

It was easier to pretend that it was impossible, that the way Fred behaved towards her was simply because he was Fred. She'd seen him around his mates; Fred was a friendly person. Thinking this way also made sure that Hermione wouldn't get her hopes up and could remain relatively calm in his presence. Because she enjoyed his presence, and if she deluded herself into thinking there was more to it then she would start overthinking things, and potentially ruin what little friendship they'd built up.

 _Oh my god, I shook his hand!_

The memory had surfaced without warning and she muffled her embarrassed cry with her hands as she was forced to relive it. And once that particular lid had opened the adjoining embarrassing scenarios kept on pouring out. The image of her accidentally sitting in his lap when they finished their match and settled by the porch. The time she'd _laughed_ when he told her his name was short for Frederick. Or when someone in the group had made the mistake of bringing up a fact she knew was false, and wouldn't—couldn't—stop ranting on why they were wrong.

Why on earth would anyone fancy that?

She climbed out of the shower, putting on a towel, feeling a bit more depressed than before. Yes, why would anyone fancy her? The best thing she could hope for was to keep being friends with the boy, and though she secretly wished for more, it was the best case scenario.

She was standing in front of her drawer when her phone made a noise. She picked it up from the bed and checked the text.

 _\- What did one ocean say to the other ocean?_

Hermione rolled her eyes.

 _-I dunno, what did the ocean say to the other ocean?_

 _\- Nothing, they just waved._

Hermione laughed, a smile then lingering on her lips as she watched the screen.

Yes, friends wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, awesomeness! (Yes, that means you, my readers)**

 **Thank you so much for the love last chapter received! I'm so happy to hear you liked my take on the Potter family!**

 **Thank you for the reviews, followings and favorites, each one is like mood boost and it helps fuel my writing immensely!  
Hope you enjoyed this one and keep on reading! **

**Until next time!  
/Primrue**


	12. Chapter 12

Late Lunch, Chapter 12

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione hurried down the stairs and sprinted to the entrance where she reached for her Mary Janes.

"Blasted—why can't we get a shoehorn?!"

She struggled for a couple of seconds and gave a satisfied sigh when her heel finally popped into her shoe, and hoisted her bag over her shoulder.

"Bye, Crooks!" she said, leaving, and locked the door.

Once up on her bike, Hermione rode on to school. She wasn't really late, she never was, but the fear of being late always motivated her to move, move, move.

She got to the crossing where four streets met, hit the brakes and waited by the lamppost. She'd checked her phone three times, before hearing someone shout her name.

"I'm here, I'm here," said Harry. His tie was loose and his shirt wasn't tucked in, his hair more of a mess than usual.

"Good morning," said Hermione, jumping up to bike alongside her best friend.

"Yeah, morning. Sorry, just cut it a bit close," said Harry. "Trying to catch my breath."

Hermione nodded. "I can see that."

Harry glanced down. "Oh, yeah. I'll fix it at school. And no one really cares—"

"The teachers care."

Harry rolled his eyes.

After ten minutes they arrived at school. They parked their bikes and headed for their lockers. When Harry didn't depart for the hallway he usually did Hermione gave him a questioning look.

"I don't have a lesson until ten minutes after you," he said, and suggested he'd therefore kill some time by accompanying her.

"Thank you," she responded, dryly. "I always do appreciate being seen as a—"Hermione stopped, her attention on a group of older students passing by further along the hallway.

With the agility of a donkey on roller skates, she hid herself behind her best friend.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry, staring at her as if she'd lost her mind. Maybe she had.

"Nothing, just ah. . ."

She watched as Fred laughed at something Lee said and soon the group was out of sight, disappearing around a corner.

"I was not ready for him this early," Hermione explained, and they arrived at her locker with Harry shaking his head.

"You know, it's weirder if you make it weird," he said.

She scoffed. "What a revelation, I had no idea." She caught his raised eyebrows and she sighed. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Just try not to bite my head off for trying to help," he said. "And I don't get it, you were speaking fine at the party."

"First of all, I need to prepare mentally for these things. Second, there was alcohol involved at the party, which, needless to say, loosened my nerves. And third," she said, putting great weight on the next three words, "there was alcohol. _You_ were pissed, you'd have thought a monkey would be speaking fine."

"I'm going to ignore your insults, being the good friend that I am," said Harry. "Instead, I'm just going to tell you to calm down, and to not overthink it. Which basically is the stupidest thing I've ever said since it's you I'm talking to. Forget all of this."

Hermione laughed.

She grabbed her books for social studies and closed her locker. "Can't believe my first lesson is with that toad."

"Your luck is quite abysmal."

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, just because you have sweet Mrs. Sprout."

"She does make Biology fun." Harry glanced at his watch. "Should get going, try not to kill anyone today."

"I'm not making any promises," Hermione grumbled.

After the next couple of lessons, Hermione was glad she hadn't made any promises. How that woman and man was allowed to teach, she would never understand. Mr. Slughorn, despite being an overall sweet old man, had no qualms about showing preference for some of the students. She was of course one of them, but she really didn't want to be. Chemistry lost all its appeal when you had the teacher eagerly looking over your shoulder the entire lesson.

Miss Umbridge, however, was nowhere near sweet and wouldn't hesitate to give you detention for speaking, or as she called it, interrupting class. Hermione had done it once, only to point out that it was unfair of her teacher to keep generalizing people of different cultures based on her own prejudiced views, to which the teacher had smiled and said; "Am I the teacher, or are you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione shuddered. Dolores Umbridge was vile, cruel and bigoted.

Finally came lunch hour, her reprieve from the horror that was Monday. Hermione stood in line, waiting to grab some food, when she heard someone snort behind her.

"Would you look at that," they drawled. "I can't tell where the line is anymore, because there's a big bush of hair in the way."

Hermione ignored them.

"She must be deaf as well," continued the voice. "But no wonder, with all that hair everywhere, I'm surprised she can even move."

Hermione gritted her teeth, but before she got a chance to turn around and scold the boy talking and the other people sniggering, a new person arrived.

"Piss off, Malfoy."

The group laughed. "Got yourself a boyfriend, have you, Granger?"

Hermione finally turned. "Shut up, and leave us alone."

Ron moved closer to her. "Yeah, and you might want to watch what you say, or people might think you're jealous, Malfoy."

Draco Malfoy looked between them, struck silent, if only for half a second. "P-please, have you seen the state of her? But then again, you country boys don't really mind animals that much, do you—"The blond stopped when spotting Hermione's slightly raised fist, clearly having not forgotten just how capable she was with it.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you," she said. "not only because of what I'd do, but also because I can see Headmaster Dumbledore from here. I could wave him over here if you'd like? We are quite friendly."

Malfoy's jaw ticked and she could tell he was restraining himself from throwing a hissy fit.

Hermione grew a toothy grin. "I'll take that silence as a yes. Have a lovely meal." She took a tray and Ron followed, guffawing, and did the same.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello!**

 **Sorry it's been so long, but my damn school essay is taking up all of my time! I did manage to squeeze some time in to write today, so here you are!**

 **Thank you so much for all of your reviews, they hit me right in my boob! (felt so cliché to say heart).**

 **Thank you also to everyone who added the story to their favorites and to all my new followers!**

 **Hugs and hope you enjoyed!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue!**


	13. Chapter 13

Late Lunch, Chapter 13

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"That was absolutely brilliant," said Ron as they sat down.

"Me? What about you?" said Hermione. "Thank you for that, by the way. You didn't have to."

"Don't like the prat harassing people, so yeah, I kinda did." Ron shrugged. "And, you know, you seem all right, so. . ."

Hermione couldn't help but feel her lips tug at the corners. "I'm 'all right'?"

Ron's ears got red. "Well, yeah. . .and my brother seems to like you so that probably means you're not _completely_ mental."

 _Brother. . .like. . ._ Her mouth dried. _Do not read too much into that_ , she urged herself. She cleared her throat. "So, where's Harry?"

"Bathroom," said Ron, cutting up a big piece of chicken and stuffing his face as they spoke. It would have been impressive if it wasn't so disgusting. "He dold me do go ahead."

"Right," said Hermione, scrunching her nose up in distaste.

"Really, Ron?"

The two of them looked up, watching as George sat himself down next to his brother.

"Have some manners, will you? You eat like a pig, you know," he continued.

"Yeah? Well, takes one to know one," Ron snapped back.

"Haven't heard that one since I was twelve," said Fred, settling himself in the chair next to Hermione. "Keeping it old-school, are we?"

Ron made a very rude gesture, which only seem to further amuse the twins.

Hermione, meanwhile, was very aware of how Fred's arm was brushing hers whenever he moved. And he seemed to move a lot.

"Hello," he said, smiling at her.

"Hi," she answered. "How—how are you?"

Fred's smile widened. "Splendid, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm all right."

"Points for honesty, but might I inquire what's got Miss Granger feeling a meagre 'all right' today?" Fred kept his eyes on her as he treaded a piece of potato onto his fork.

Hermione sighed. "Try, spending all morning with Slughorn and Umbridge."

"Ah, that _is_ bad. It's a wonder you're still alive. Hey, does Slughorn do that thing with you where he passes by several times and tries to look over your shoulder?"

"Yes!" Hermione huffed. "It's so annoying. How did you know?"

Fred shrugged. "You're a bright student, only makes sense."

She gave small smile at that. "Does he do it to you too?"

"Does he ever, but more out of necessity, I think."

"Do I even want to know?"

Fred smirked. "I don't know." He turned to George. "Does she?"

George sighed. "We experimented once during lab, defying instructions. Though no accident happened Slughorn hasn't really trusted to keep his eyes off of us whenever we are near chemicals since."

Hermione nodded in understanding, trying to keep a straight face despite the urge to giggle. "Figures that's the reason you caught the teacher's attention."

Fred scowled playfully. "Now, don't assume! We're dedicated students, eager to learn. Why else would we have grabbed the chemicals and poured them all together? Curious minds are brilliant minds."

"Who said that?"

"Don't know, but it applies."

Hermione and Ron snorted. Ron then decided to speak up, "But blimey, Hermione. You haven't got a good Monday schedule, do you? If I were you I would have punched Malfoy back then."

"What did Malfoy do now?" asked George.

"He made fun of her hair and was being an overall git."

"Was he?" said Fred, slowly.

"Don't get any ideas," said Hermione, having spotted his calculating glint early. "I don't want you landing in trouble for the likes of him."

Fred put a hand to his chest, pretending to get offended. "Whatever made you think—"

"Leave it," said Hermione. "I could sense you and George plotting before Ron had even finished."

George exchanged a look with his twin. "Well, she's not wrong," he said.

Fred raised his arms in surrender. "Fine, we will let karma take care of this one."

"Thank you. If nothing else, I'll just name my fist karma and be done with it if he keeps bothering me," Hermione joked, and delighted in the laughs it brought forth.

The boys soon talked about some football matter and not being really into it, Hermione searched for her bespectacled friend while she ate. She soon saw him arriving at the queue, right behind Cho Chang. The girl turned around and started up a conversation. Harry ruffled his hair, looking quite stupid, but it seemed to have a calming effect on him as he talked to her. Hermione recalled in the back of her mind that Lily once mentioned James's habit of doing the same when they'd been younger.

Cho departed with her friends and Harry joined Hermione and the others.

He threw Hermione a look upon seeing Fred next to her. She retaliated with a nod to where Cho sat across the room, and Harry promptly let it drop.

"Hey, Harry," said Ron as Harry sat down next to George. "Did you watch the match yesterday?"

"There was a match yesterday?"

"Chudley Cannons versus Puddlemere United, mate!"

"Never heard of them."

Ron gaped. "Never—well, I'll have to show you sometime then. They're not big, no, but they're both good teams. The Cannons especially."

Harry laughed. "Sure, sounds great."

"I might not be an expert on sports, Ron," said Hermione, "but I suggest you take this opportunity to invite yourself to the Potters' enormous television and surround sound system."

"Nah, that's not necessary—"

"No, she's got a point," interrupted Harry. "Why not? The next time the Cannons play we'll have a gathering or something at my place."

Ron beamed. "That sounds great."

Hermione caught Fred's eye. "Aren't they adorable?"

"I can't believe my brother's going on his first date. They grow up so fast."

"They really do."

"Think we should tell them about the birds and the bees?"

Hermione laughed as she shook her head. "Harry is way too young for that."

"Well," said Fred. "I wouldn't put it past him to try and corrupt my innocent brother with less than honorable intentions. There is something wicked hiding behind those eyes of his."

They glanced at Harry who was staring at them, his green eyes big and doe-like.

"Yes, he positively reeks of evil," said Hermione.

"It's the innocent-looking ones you've got to look out for," said Fred.

"Didn't you just tell me he had wickedness hiding in his eyes?"

Fred crossed his arms. "Yes, _hiding_ , which means it's not really visible."

"Well, how would you then know that it's there in the first place?" Hermione retorted, mirroring his previous move.

The others had started talking amongst themselves by now, bored being observers to their banter. Hermione, however, was enjoying herself immensely.

Fred was silent for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes at her, and when he couldn't come up with a response he settled for a simple; "You're no fun."

Hermione smiled. "And you're an idiot."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, beautifuls!**

 **Wow, I just want to hug each and every one of you! Your reviews make me smile so much! Thank you!**

 **Thank you as always, as well, to everyone who added this story to their favorites and who followed.**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	14. Chapter 14

Late Lunch, Chapter 14

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

It was almost sickening.

Laying on her stomach on the bed, a pillow tucked beneath her chest, Hermione giggled as she read the messages on her phone, closely resembling a typical teenager in one of those movies. All that was left was for her to host a slumber party in her underwear with some female friends and that was it. Or that, heaven forbid, Fred would climb up to her window.

But she couldn't help it. Hermione was giddy and excited, and every time her phone sounded she eagerly picked it up, wanting to know what he wrote.

During the past week they'd gone from bad jokes to discussing actual subjects. Fred had some interesting ideas about things, and while being more inclined towards subjects like maths and physics, he wasn't completely oblivious to Hermione's favourite subjects; English and social studies (pre-Umbridge). At the moment, he was sharing his own opinions on the books she'd been assigned this year, and which he'd read the year before.

She was just in the process of writing him a huge paragraph in response, when her phone rang. The display showed Fred's name, along with a picture he'd taken the liberty of adding himself. The image of his face close up, to the point where half of it was his nostrils, had her laughing. Then, however, she frowned. Talking on the phone wasn't something she usually did. And why was he calling?

Her curiosity outweighed her uneasiness before long, as it tended to do, and she put her phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Finally," said the unmistakable voice that was Fred's. The twins may be near identical, but this voice, this belonged to Fred entirely.

"Why are you calling me?" asked Hermione, her stomach tingling at the sound.

"My hands are bloody abused from all the typing. And the messages were getting longer. Thought I'd give you a call and make the matter easier."

"Oh, you did, did you?"

"Can't tell me I'm wrong," said Fred. "Bet your fingers are cramping too, just that you haven't noticed till now."

Hermione was silent, and after a few seconds she heard Fred laugh.

"I knew it."

Hermione huffed. "You're just bursting of knowledge, aren't you? Positively omniscient."

"I'm near omniscient," he corrected.

"So there are things that even Fred Weasley doesn't know?"

"You'd be surprised. Although, then again, maybe you wouldn't be. I suspect you're the one person who'd know the answers to my biggest questions. . ." He trailed off and for some reason the way he had made Hermione's mind reel. She felt her cheeks burn and throat parch at the different things he could be implying.

 _Biggest questions? Is he . . . Does he wonder if I . . .?_

"So," Fred continued, his tone lighter than before, and interrupting her thoughts, "what's the story between you and blondie?"

"Blondie?"

"Malfoy."

"Oh," said Hermione, feeling a bit disappointed at the direction the conversation had turned. "Nothing much really. He mostly just goes out of his way to make snide comments at me."

"I noticed," said Fred, and she knew he was rolling his eyes. "Just wondered why. No one, and by that I mean Ginny, seems to know."

"Genetics?" Hermione offered.

Fred laughed. "Perhaps. God knows his father gives my Mum a hard time." He proceeded to imitate his mother in a high-pitched voice, "'That Lucius Malfoy, he's made a hundred more brownies than what was required for the bake-sale. Does he not realize we don't all have money?'"

Hermione felt her belly bubble with laughter. "Your mum has bake-offs with Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yup," said Fred. "But back to Malfoy junior."

Hermione pouted, but made a note to later gather as much information as she could about these bake-offs that were occurring between Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy.

"I gather he's a prick," continued Fred, to which Hermione nodded in affirmation, despite him not being able to see her. "but even his sort usually require motivation. So what'd you do? Get better grades than him?" Fred had said the last part jokingly, but Hermione bit her lip.

"Actually," she said, "that's exactly what I did."

"You're kidding?"

"Afraid not. Young mister Malfoy is a rather clever student, it's just that teachers have a tendency to fuss over me more. They have ever since I started school."

"Unbelievable."

"It's very much the truth, Mr. Weasley. Teachers can't seem to leave me alone."

"You love it, though."

"Har har."

"Just telling it like it is, Granger. You love being adored."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"Shut up."

Fred chuckled. "Make me."

She blushed. "Maybe I will." It was silent for a while. ". . . Fred?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Where'd you go?" she asked, amused.

"Oh, just thought I saw a badger or something."

". . . are you outside right now?"

"Affirmative. The reception is rubbish inside."

Hermione nodded to herself.

 _That's right, he and the other Weasleys live outside of town._

"And also," Fred continued," there's absolutely no privacy to be had in this house. I didn't even get my own room until the year Percy moved out."

"Wow, I can't imagine." Hermione said, "I'm an only child. The closest thing _I_ have to a sibling is Harry. Doesn't it get difficult? Sharing space with so many, I mean."

"It does get pretty crowded here, which, like I said, makes privacy rather difficult. But honestly, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Hermione didn't even have to make an effort to hear the affection in which Fred spoke about his family, and she found that it made her— if possible— like him even more than she already did.

There was silence again, but it did nothing to deter her now. Just knowing he was on the other end was . . . soothing.

"Maybe," Fred started.

"Yes?"

"Maybe, you could come by sometime."

Hermione was quiet, trying to process what he'd just asked her, but it didn't really matter since Fred was chatting along just fine on his own.

"Mum and Ginny have been talking about you. Mum remembers you from the station and is glad Ginny has found such a nice and polite friend, while Ginny —I think— just wants more time to corrupt you, and I'm pretty sure they're both about to send an invitation your way. But you know me, of course. I always have got to take action first." He laughed, but if Hermione didn't known any better she'd say he sounded nervous.

"I'd like that, Fred," she said finally. In an attempt to not appear too desperate, she added, "It would make it easier to begin planning our attack plan on Umbridge."

This appeared to have the boy reinvigorated, and if he had been nervous before it was definitely gone now. "I have so many ideas," he said, "and I can't wait to hear yours."

Hermione smiled guiltily. She had been so immersed in her school work that she'd barely given the matter a thought. Besides, she wasn't a prankster, what did she know?

"I'll bring my notes," she said, hoping her tone was convincing enough to have him believe she was as excited as he was.

"Brilliant," said Fred. There was shouting in the background. "Sorry, Mum is calling me for dinner."

"Tell her hi from me!"

"Will do, my lady. . .I'm making a mock-bow, just so you know."

"Just tell her hi, I'm not asking you to write her a sonnet."

"Will do, will do . . .Geez, all of these demands. . .Bye, Hermione."

She laughed. "Bye, Fred. See you in school tomorrow."

"Not if I see you first."

"Very funny."

"I live to make you laugh."

And with that, he hung up.

Hermione put her phone to the side and stayed in bed, Crookshanks joining her. She began stroking the back of her cat. He purred delightedly.

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, me too."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Helloooo!**

 **I read through your reviews for the last chapter and I'm just so happy! Thank you so much for writing such nice things and for loving this story! And I'm so happy my writing makes you happy!**

 **Thank you for your reviews, followings and for adding this story to your favorites. You're all adorable ducklings.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this one!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	15. Chapter 15

Late Lunch, Chapter 15

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

School the next day was a Friday, and judging by the impatient taps of pens and the groans that sounded when they glanced at the clock, most people seemed more than eager for the weekend. Hermione had to admit she was one of them.

It had started off well enough. Fred had greeted her in-between two of his morning classes, complementing her on her book carrying abilities ('I say, nowadays you hardly ever see a person drag around more than two books, let alone seven') which brought forward a blush and a 'bugger off' from her. She'd immediately regretted the latter, but Fred only laughed, making her blush even more pronounced. He'd walked away smiling and Hermione couldn't help but smile as well.

Nevertheless, after having endured yet another week of preparations for the final examinations that would take place at the end of term, Hermione looked forward to just breathe for a second. And so, after the last class, she happily exited the room, Katie by her side.

The two of them walked together towards their lockers, embracing their freedom and shared relief of having survived the week. Every now and then, Hermione would stop and watch Katie speak. Ever since the party, the other girl had been more sociable, talkative and approaching. Probably because she now viewed Hermione as approachable.

It was nice.

"I just don't understand," said Katie, "why McGonagall finds it necessary to hand us a pile of homework right before our final exam. I haven't even really understood 'Hooke's Law' she kept talking about, or why she used a spring to explain."

"I thought that was rather obvious," said Hermione, but continued when Katie sent her a glare; "though, of course, I'm wrong."

Katie laughed.

"Hello, ladies," said a voice behind them.

"Hiya, Gin'," said Katie.

"Hi," said Hermione.

Ginny smiled at them. "On your way home, Hermione?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Oh, nothing, just thought I'd join you for dinner tonight."

Hermione gaped, but Katie snorted. "Lord, you really are the twins' sister."

Ginny waved her off. "So, what do you think?"

Hermione opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before nodding. "Sure. I'll just have to call my parents first."

Ginny's smile grew wider. "Great!"

When Hermione stepped away to call her mother she heard Katie say "So, Hermione's parents are those type of people? Makes sense if you think about it."

She rolled her eyes. There was nothing wrong with alerting your parents to company. It was only polite.

One phone call and an ecstatic mother later, Hermione told Ginny she was more than welcome to the Granger household, to which Ginny revealed that she'd roped Katie into coming along as well. Hermione sighed, but her mouth pulled up as she made yet another call.

The three girls gathered their things and moved to where their bikes were parked outside.

Katie let Ginny hop onto the back of her bike, since the latter usually rode the bus to and from school. Hermione was grateful; not sure if the books on hers gave room for much else, and a part of her also not eager to admit she might not have the stamina required for pedaling with another human being in the back.

She led the way to her home, wind making her hair fly everywhere, but the giggles it summoned from the others didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. Katie even pointed to her own head, a bird's nest forming there as well, and they laughed. Ginny apologized for having flawless red locks, which seemed to dance, rather than tangle, behind her, and the others exchanged a look. The rest of the bike ride was spent mimicking her in an exaggerated manner.

They arrived with everyone's cheeks hurting, and Ginny jumped off by the sidewalk, waiting as the other two put their bikes in the garage. When they came out Ginny was talking to a tall, dark and handsome boy.

"Oh, dear god," said Hermione, coming to a halt.

"What?" asked Katie.

"Don't you recognize him? That's Blaise Zabini!" Hermione hissed.

Katie's eyes bulged. "He lives here?"

"Yes, right across from us!"

"But isn't he really posh?"

"Yes, but husband number four values traditional family values, so Mrs. Zabini allowed him to move them here."

"So, a fancy boy is talking to Ginny. . ."

"We have to stop it."

"Lest there be blood," Katie agreed.

But there was no need because Ginny had already noticed them coming out. "Hermione! You never told me you had such _pleasant_ neighbors. And by pleasant I mean overly courteous to the point of being fake."

Hermione gave a nervous laugh.

Blaise arched an eyebrow at the redhead. "Do you always speak your mind so freely?"

"Yes," she answered, and arched an eyebrow right back at him.

"Hm."

Blaise gazed at Ginny with interest, and Hermione wanted to slap her friend.

 _Yes, excellent, get attention from the son of a potential serial-husband-killer._

Ginny herself was getting bored with the silent boy and told them so.

"Well, I'll make myself scarce then," said Blaise and nodded to Hermione. "Granger."

"Zabini."

He turned to Ginny. "And it was a pleasure, sincerely."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Save it for someone who'll buy it."

Blaise only quirked his lip, and left.

Once he was out of earshot Hermione swatted her friend on the arm.

"Hey!"

"Could you not land in trouble the five seconds I leave you alone?"

Ginny rubbed her arm. "He's harmless, trust me."

Hermione glowered at her. "All of his mother's husbands have disappeared under mysterious circumstances."

"Yes, but if she was guilty, d'you really think she'd be stupid enough to move across the street from a policeman and his family?"

Hermione crossed her arms in defeat. "Fine. But I still say he's suspicious."

It was silent for a while, bordering on tense, until Katie looked between the two and said, "He had a nice ass though."

"He really did," agreed Ginny, wistfully; no doubt having memorized it as he'd walked away.

Hermione rubbed her forehead.

". . .yeah."

Ginny and Katie laughed, watching as Hermione grew pink and uncomfortable.

 _Damn Harry for having football practice. . ._

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello!**

 **Oh my god, you guys are simply the best! I love reading your reviews and I love you!**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing, following and adding this story to your favorites!**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**

P.S. Saw some people asking about my other story and in case there are more wondering: No, I have not given up on "His Last Wish". I just haven't had the time to write it, but don't worry, as soon as school is over, I'll get right back to it!


	16. Chapter 16

Late Lunch, Chapter 16

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione crossed her arms and shifted her stance several times while Ginny and Katie perused through her belongings. Her parents weren't home yet, so at least that was something, but how she would get through dinner without these two embarrassing her she had no idea.

"Blimey, 'Mione," said Ginny, grinning, and held up a black, laced brassiere. "Didn't know you had it in you."

Hermione gave a squeak and rushed to snatch it back from her. "Why are you going through my underwear?"

"The rest of your room is rather dull," Ginny explained with a shrug, watching as Hermione closed the drawer.

"That may be, but at least don't use it as an excuse to go through my personal things."

"I didn't go through your underwear, Hermione," said Katie, standing by the bookshelf.

"Oh, you're such a kiss-ass, Bell," said Ginny.

Katie only stuck her tongue out in response. Her attention then resumed to the bookshelf and she gave an 'oh' when spotting an old Halloween photo of Harry and Hermione. "Look at these tiny cuties."

"Lemme see, lemme see," said Ginny. "Wow. Hermione, your hair. . ."

"I know, I know," said Hermione.

"And er, who's _he_?" asked Katie, pointing to the man standing behind them.

Hermione's eyes widened. "No, you don't! I swear to God, Katie—"

"I know who that is!" interrupted Ginny. "That's Harry's godfather, isn't it? I've seen him pick Harry up from school on his motorcycle."

"Godfather? But he looks so young."

"Harry's parents had him when they were twenty," said Hermione. "And would you please stop making that face, Katie, he's still off limits! Besides, he's in a relationship of sorts."

"Of sorts?"

Hermione thought on what she knew about Sirius and Marlene. "Honestly, I don't think even they know what's happening either. Point is, you don't want to get in the middle of it. Trust me."

Katie sighed. "Why can't I have nice things?" She put the picture back on bookshelf.

"Oh, please," said Ginny. "You've had plenty of nice things; Cormac McLaggen, Tracey Davis, Oliver Wood . . ."

"Hey!" interrupted Katie, "I only snogged McLaggen that one time!"

"Once is one time too many," muttered Hermione under her breath, and Ginny snorted.

"Yeah, the packaging is pretty but the content is rather revolting," she agreed.

The girls continued talking, making themselves comfortable on her bed, and Hermione couldn't help but feel how surreal it was. While the experience of having girlfriends over didn't feel too different from when she had Harry over, it was still different. For example, subjects like menstrual cycles and hair care were more recurrent. Hermione found herself thinking that it was nice. She hadn't really had anyone to discuss these things with other than her mother and Lily, both of which was kind of awkward. It felt relaxed doing it with Ginny and Katie, though.

"So, Hermione," said Katie, after she and Ginny had agreed on football practice being a nightmare once that time of the month came along, "how did you and Fred meet?"

"Meet?"

 _Why does she make it sound like we're a couple?_

"Oh, you don't know?" asked Ginny, and Katie shook her head. "Well, let me tell you, it's pretty amazing. Fred and George, you see, were transporting some fireworks. It was from this really suspicious guy; some Mungus Dungus, or other. Anyway, they didn't really care, because they got them at such a cheap price. They _should_ have cared, though, since they barely had gotten five feet away before one of the little buggers lit. We still don't know how. So the police come, and George was trying to gather the spread out ones they'd dropped during the spectacle, while Hermione's dad already got to Fred. Then—"

Here, Hermione began worrying her lip. She wondered if Fred had told Ginny about the conversation in the car. If he had, she was sure she was going to die.

Luckily, Ginny just finished with: "Then, they went to the station where Hermione was waiting for her father. Fred and Hermione started talking, and my brother hasn't been able to shut up about her since."

"That's amazing," said Katie.

"You're making it sound like more than it was," said Hermione, now fidgeting with her nails.

"You're joking, right?" Hermione looked up and saw that Ginny was staring at her. "He's utterly taken with you. Although, I should probably wait for him to tell you that."

Hermione blushed heavily. "Ginny, he doesn't. . .I mean, he can't. . ."

"Why ever not?"

"Because. . ."

This conversation had taken an ugly turn. Her neck warm, almost sweaty, and she felt like slapping herself. Why had she said that? And to his sister no less.

"Because it doesn't make any sense," said Hermione.

Katie reached over, her expression symphathetic, and put her hand on top of Hermione's. "Hey, sometimes it doesn't make sense. But it doesn't have to make it any less real. I've known Fred for years and he does look like he proper fancies you."

Ginny nodded, crossing her arms. "And I'm his bloody sister so I should know."

Hermione gave them a weak smile. "I suppose I just don't want to get my hopes up."

For the first time Ginny's features softened. "Is that it?"

Hermione nodded.

Ginny sighed. "Honestly, 'Mione, just go for it."

Hermione clutched her face and groaned. "I feel so ridiculous."

"Yes, well, you sound and look ridiculous."

"Ginny!" said Katie.

"She does, though! A guy meets you because of fireworks exploding; it has destiny written all over it, yet she still doesn't—"

Hermione snapped her head up. "Fireworks!"

Katie and Ginny exchanged worried glances. "Yeah . . . ?"

"No, you don't understand!" said Hermione. " _Fireworks_! It's so simple! We just need to adjust the original plan!"

"Hermione, are you okay?"

"I think she's had an aneurysm."

Hermione smiled. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just thought of something."

The other girls shared another look.

"Well, if you're sure you're fine," said Katie.

"I am," Hermione guaranteed. "Although, I need to ask you something, Ginny."

"What?"

"Could I come by your house tomorrow?"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: THE BURROW IS HAPPENING Y'ALL!**

 **Thank you so much for all the reviews! You have no idea how happy and thankful I am, and maybe you're tired of hearing it, but to a fic writer it means a lot to have their readers share their thoughts with them! So thank you for being so amazing!**

 **Thank you also to all of you who followed and added this story to your favorites!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	17. Chapter 17

Late Lunch, Chapter 17

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The bus ride passed in a haze and Hermione had to shake off drowsiness when she finally arrived at the last station. She climbed out of the bus, shielding her eyes against the blinding sun, and moved towards the tiny car park to try and locate _any_ redheaded person. One of them should be here by now.

"Hermione!"

She turned around and saw Ginny, smiling as she waved her arm in greeting and excitement—almost driving her bike into a parked car as a result— and within seconds, she was in front of her.

"Welcome to Ottery St. Catchpole!" she said, hopping off her bike so that the girls could hug.

"So, this is where you live?" asked Hermione when they parted, and was a bit taken aback when Ginny answered with a loud snort.

"No, that would have been too easy. My parents chose a house that's another twenty minutes away by foot." She caught the way Hermione's expression briefly faltered, and added, "That's why I brought the bike, though!"

Hermione shook her head and chuckled. "I don't mind walking. It's just that I didn't realize you all lived as far away as you do."

Ginny shrugged.

The way to the Weasleys's house was an unpaved road that led away from the small town. As they strolled, Hermione gazed upon the fields and hills that surrounded them, and marveled at the trees which were impressively tall and broad. She worried, however, about the limited opportunities of shade they offered since the trees by the road were too far in between, but luckily there soon was a steady rhythm of breezes that made sure she wouldn't melt as she walked.

"It's amazing," she said, inhaling deeply after a particularly pleasant gust of wind.

Ginny snorted. "Yeah, you say that now. Try to live this far from civilization your whole life."

Hermione glanced around her, admiring the trees, the flowers and the sounds. "I don't think I would have minded growing up here."

And truthfully, Hermione didn't think she would have. She wasn't much for socializing anyway. She could easily see herself being satisfied to spend her weekend settled beneath a tree, reading. Although, she would have to admit that life on the country side might turn inconvenient if she were to continue living there in the future. As someone who considered a career within law she suspected that living anywhere but a central part of a city would prove to be troublesome rather than relaxing.

Speaking of trouble. . .

"Where's your brother?"

You didn't have to be observant to catch the way Ginny's lips formed a smirk. "Which brother?"

Hermione blushed. "You know which one."

"I'm afraid Ron is busy studying in his room today."

"Ginny . . ."

Ginny laughed. "Disappointed that it was me and not Fred meeting you at the bus stop, are you, Granger?"

"Er . . ."

If Hermione were to be completely honest: yes. Having been assured by Ginny that her visit wouldn't pose any problems for the Weasleys, Hermione had texted Fred to ask if he and George would have time to discuss the pranking of Umbridge the next day, to which he had replied within _seconds_. Had she been wrong to interpret that as a desire to see her?

"Calm down, 'Mione," said Ginny, sending her a playful nudge with her elbow. "Mum ordered the twins to finish cleaning, but trust me, he wanted to come meet you."

Hermione's stomach did a flip. "You didn't have to clean your house for me."

"If you'd ever been to our house before you would know how silly you just sounded."

The remainder of the walk was spent with idle chat, only interrupted, once, by Ginny pointing towards a hill and telling her that Luna Lovegood lived on the other side of it. Hermione nodded in acknowledgement, deciding not to share her opinion of the strange girl since Ginny appeared fond of her. All thoughts of Loony Lovegood and her bizarre jewelry disappeared from Hermione's head, however, once she and Ginny reached the garden of the strangest house Hermione had ever seen.

It was lucky that the Weasleys owned a spacious amount of land, because she doubted that their house would fit if it were, say, the size of the Grangers'. It looked like someone had built a house, then realized they needed more rooms, and just added them on the left and right ends. It already made for a strange sight having it be two stories tall in the middle, while only one on the sides, but the material and colour used to build the house varied too. It was like a rainbow of red, green and blue.

"So, er, this is where we live." For the first time in which Hermione had known her, Ginny appeared shy. "It's not much, but it's home."

Hermione smiled. "It . . . certainly has its charm."

Ginny laughed. "Poor attempt, 'Mione."

"Well, it does! I think it looks lovely," she said honestly, but not very convincingly. "You even have chickens." Ginny laughed again.

Sighing internally at her own stupid mouth, Hermione missed it when the front door opened.

"I see we can't even trust you to escort the guests here properly. What d'you do to her, Gin?"

Hermione snapped her head up and saw Fred leaning casually against the door frame. He met her gaze and she could see something brighten in his eyes at the contact.

 _Well, it looks like he's glad I'm here. . ._

Her suspicion grew stronger when a grin bloomed on his face. She felt herself mirroring him.

"Geez, I would tell you to get a room, but I'm afraid I won't be able to live here anymore if you did," said Ginny, quiet enough so that only Hermione could hear. While the latter tried to recover from her blush, the former told her brother to take over as tour guide. "I have an ice cream with my name on it, and I'll be enjoying it inside." Ginny told Hermione she'd see her later and entered the house.

Hermione was then left with Fred, who was holding the door up after his sister had passed through. "I've got to say, I was surprised when you told me you'd come over today," he said.

"Well, I didn't want to discuss it over the phone, what with your bad reception and all."

"Sure, _bad reception_. If that's your excuse," said Fred.

Hermione sent him a glare, which only made his grin wider. "It's not an excuse."

"Whatever you say, Granger."

"Is that Hermione? Fred let her in for heaven's sake," said Mrs. Weasley, appearing from the kitchen. She greeted Hermione with a hug. "Lovely to see you again, dear."

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Weasley. You have a lovely home."

"Oh, that's sweet of you. I try my best," said Mrs. Weasley, who'd clasped her hands together, and now looked between Hermione and Fred, smiling. It made Hermione slightly uncomfortable. She glanced at Fred who looked like he was trying his best not to laugh.

"Mum, I think I'll show Hermione to the living room now."

"Oh, yes, of course!" said Mrs. Weasley, shaking herself out from whatever dazed state she'd been in. "Don't mind me, I'll be in the kitchen preparing supper. Just don't sneak off into Fred's room alone, you two, and all will be fine."

Hermione was sure she had turned into a tomato, and Fred was rubbing his neck.

"Right, so—living room," he said, once his mother was gone. "George will be waiting there."

"Oh," was the only thing Hermione managed in response, "okay."

Fred gestured for her to follow him through the hallway on the right and she obeyed.

Both of them avoided looking into the other's eyes.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, can Mrs. Weasley make things more awkward? Well, the visit isn't over yet . . .Muahaha!**

 **Thank you all my darling readers for commenting, following and adding the story to your favorites! It's a joy having you along the ride that is Late Lunch!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	18. Chapter 18

Late Lunch, Chapter 18

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today—OW!"

George rubbed his nose where the ball of paper had hit him.

"Shut it, and help us set up, yeah?" said Fred, returning to the arranging of his notebook and pens.

Hermione smiled, which caused George to sniff.

"I'm glad the abuse my brother puts me under amuses you," he said.

She started to apologize but Fred quickly interrupted. "He's just being an idiot. Don't mind him."

"Truly, the love is all around today," said George sarcastically, but grinned.

The three of them spent the afternoon going over the potential plans they'd come up with to prank Umbridge. The twins had listened as she explained her idea of using smaller fireworks and agreed it was a good one, but suggested adding more elements to it.

Hermione— who having expected to repeatedly have to remind the boys that they weren't trying to kill, but _scare_ , the so-called substitute teacher— noticed that while George was vicious enough on his own, Fred was even more so. If she'd ever had any doubt about who was the more reckless twin, this conversation certainly helped shed light on the matter.

She was surprised, however, to find she didn't mind. Fred was lively, and she liked it. Where most of the time a lively person would exhaust her, Fred seemed to manage encouraging her to rise to his level.

Well, _almost_. No one but George could ever truly reach Fred's level.

"So, we've excluded alligators and other reptiles. . ." Hermione said, barely believing what she was saying.

"I don't know, I still think a toad would like to find a snake in her desk," said George.

"Well, that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?" remarked Fred.

"Yeah, I suppose, but what about a skunk, then? They smell—"

"—and if we're really lucky it might claw her face off—"

"We're not involving animals in this," said Hermione firmly.

"Fine," the twins sighed.

Just then they heard something which sounded like a strange bird.

"That'd be Ginny," said George, and started packing away the things. "We told her to signal us if Mum was headed this way."

Hermione hummed in response. Yes, she couldn't imagine Mrs. Weasley agreeing with their planned prank, no matter how cruel the "teacher". Hermione suspected her parents wouldn't either, but she, herself, felt that this was merely a case of justice.

When Mrs. Weasley entered the sitting area a few moments later, Fred and George had taken to occupy the sofa while Hermione was sitting in the armchair; all three of them surrounding a deck of cards on the table. Perfect picture of innocence.

"Mother!" said Fred, "Care to join us for a round of—"

Mrs. Weasley had already put her hands on her sides in suspicion, and now eyed her son, "Knowing you, they'd most likely explode."

"So, was that a 'no'?" Fred stage-whispered to his twin.

"I wanted to ask you," began Mrs. Weasley, ignoring the twins' sniggering, "to gather up the chickens before it gets too late. Not you, of course, Hermione dear," she added.

"I wouldn't mind," said Hermione.

At Mrs. Weasley's conflicted face, Fred spoke up, "We'll do it, Mum, don't worry. Hermione here will help us only if needed."

"I just wouldn't want your parents to think I'm using you for chores," said Mrs. Weasley.

Hermione smiled and assured the woman that that wouldn't be a problem, and that she was happy to help. She didn't mention that she also wanted to essentially spend as much time with Fred as she possibly could before returning home.

The three of them ventured outside and Hermione stood nearby and watched as the two boys guided the chickens into their coop.

It went surprisingly quick.

"Only Winky left now," said Fred.

"I'll go look by the pond and you two check the barn," said George and left before they could object.

"How can you tell the difference between the chickens?" asked Hermione as they strolled toward the barn. "The ones I saw looked exactly the same."

"Oh, you'll see when we find her," said Fred, looking amused for some reason.

It took a few minutes but they eventually found Winky the chicken walking behind the barn. Hermione then realized just what was so special about her. The bird walked like it was drunk. She swayed from side to side, her balance completely off.

"Dear lord, is she all right?"

Fred looked at Hermione's worried expression and she guessed he was trying not to laugh at her. "She's fine, we've even had her checked out. Her sense of balance is basically non-existent, but Dad never had the heart to put her down, so we just let her wander around as much as she likes."

"Oh, poor thing," said Hermione, and stepped closer to the chicken. But it appeared Winky had no intention of being brought back to the coop and so she sprinted past Hermione's feet, and Hermione—being startled, and very scared she'd step on the creature— stumbled right into Fred's arms.

"That bloody bird!" said Hermione, flustered and embarrassed.

Fred laughed. "Not such a poor thing any longer, is she?"

"My sympathy for her has all but evaporated." Hermione looked up into Fred's face. "And I think I can manage to stand on my own now."

She didn't mean for it to sound as harsh as it did, and she was just about to say so, but right then Mrs. Weasley called them to dinner and George was seen carrying Winky towards the coop a bit farther away.

"Come on," said Fred, and gave her a smile which showed he understood. How, she didn't know, but he seemed to and that had her relieved.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: So Winky the house-elf is a chicken here….yeah that happened…..**

 **And gggaaaaaah! You guys really are the best! Your reviews give me life! Thank you so much!**

 **Thank you also to every fav and follow, you are of course also the best! All the chickens to you! *does Oprah voice* You get a chicken! You get a chicken! Everyone gets a chicken!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	19. Chapter 19

Late Lunch, Chapter 19

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Just before they'd begun digging into their plates, Mr. Weasley arrived home from work. He'd entered the kitchen and greeted everyone cheerfully, and though looking surprised to see Hermione there, he shook her hand and kindly welcomed her to his home.

Hermione's impression of him was that he was a sweet man, devoted to his wife and family, and a bit more relaxed than the mother of his children. As soon as he sat down to join them, however, he started asking Hermione questions about police work ('Has your father ever had to disarm a bomb? Does he have a gun with him at all times?'). Hermione tried to answer them all, but found that he had more questions than she had answers. She wished Harry was there.

"Arthur, will you stop tormenting the girl," said Mrs. Weasley, finally. "I'm so sorry, Hermione, I'm afraid my husband has got quite an obsession."

From the corner of her eye, Hermione spotted all the Weasley children rolling their eyes. So, evidently more than just an obsession.

"Always was interested in police work, but afraid I didn't have what it took," said Mr. Weasley, but his voice didn't betray any bitterness, and it was clear he simply was stating a fact. He smiled apologetically at Hermione, admitting that he knew he might have got a bit carried away.

Hermione turned her attention to her neighbors while Mr. Weasley got into talking to his wife about his day at the car repair shop. Ron, George and Fred were discussing football (typical) while Ginny, who sat across from her, now tried to engage Hermione in a conversation about her _female_ football team. It was lucky Hermione somewhat enjoyed the sport, for she suspected if she hadn't this dinner would have been torture.

As the conversation dragged out far longer than she liked, Hermione allowed a barely audible sigh escape, and felt a nudge to her left knee. Not looking and keeping her gaze on Ginny, she jerked hers back at her neighbor, and a silent nudging feud began.

After a while of back and forth hitting, Hermione dared a glance, and immediately spotted the corner of Fred's lips tugging up. He was speaking along just fine with his brothers but she could tell his mind was focused on their knee fight.

"Hermione?"

"Hm, what?"

Hermione stopped her knee mid-movement and looked at her friend, only to instantly wish she hadn't; Ginny looked smug beyond words at having caught her looking at Fred. Hermione fought off the embarrassment that shouted for her cover her face and run out of there, and instead focused on sending Ginny an innocent smile. No evidence, no case.

"Nevermind," said Ginny, shrugging, and scraped some mashed potatoes onto her fork. "It just seemed like you were awfully distracted . . ."

Hermione had been about to roll her eyes and joke right back at her friend, when she heard the chair next to her squeak.

"It's rude not to pay attention to a conversation, Granger," whispered Fred, teasingly.

"Oh, is it?" said Hermione, and retaliated with an especially hard nudge to his leg, causing the glass of water in his hand to almost spill on his shirt.

Hermione unconcernedly started up a new conversation with Ginny, the latter visibly suppressing her chuckles as Mrs. Weasley fussed and asked Fred what had gotten into him.

Bellies filled and their trousers dangerously close to popping open, Hermione, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny retired to the living room when dinner was over. They started up a round of cards, having agreed that watching television only would result in an argument over what they should watch.

"At least I have Hermione now," said Ginny, picking up a card from the pile, "so it would be even against the two of you for once."

"Hey!" said the twins.

"Who's to say she wouldn't back up our choice?" asked George.

"Yeah, or mine," chimed Ron. Unfortunately, this was only met with sniggers on his brothers' parts and an apologetic smile from Hermione. Ron sighed and returned to his cards. "Oh, forget it."

The sun was setting outside, much too fast for her liking, and after a few more rounds the time neared when Hermione's father would arrive and pick her up.

She checked her watch and frowned. "My father will be here in five minutes. I should probably get ready."

"Yes, wouldn't want to tarnish your good and punctual reputation," said George.

"Exactly," said Hermione and smiled. She gathered her things and said her goodbyes to the Weasleys; a wave to George and Ron, and a hug with Ginny. Fred had volunteered to escort her into the hallway.

"Well," said Hermione, putting her shoes on, while he stuffed his hands into his pockets and waited. "I feel like we've some progress at least. With the pranking, I mean."

"Definitely," said Fred, grinning.

Hermione mirrored him. "So, I guess I'll see you in school on Monday," she continued, righting herself up and meeting his eyes.

"Yeah."

They stood there, and Hermione blushed as Fred held her gaze and she could tell he was wondering the same thing she was. What to do? She most certainly wasn't about to shake his hand again, too formal. A kiss on the cheek was out of the question. A hug? No, that was too casual, wasn't it? They hadn't known each other that long, no matter how much it felt like it, and no matter how much he'd done it the night of the party. _Where he was drunk_ , Hermione reminded herself.

A few awkward seconds passed, and she settled on a wave. "Well, bye."

 _That's so much worse than a handshake!_

Hermione could just feel how her insides squirmed at how cringe worthy she was behaving. It took all of her power to not sprint out of there.

To top it all off, Fred had begun laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, just you, Granger," he said. His laughter calmed, _just_ as she felt her own temper begin to stir. She swatted his arm.

"Don't laugh at me," she scolded, half-serious.

Fred grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, good."

She didn't realize her hand had lingered on his arm until Fred glanced down to it. She followed, and when they both looked up again there was a noticeable shift in his expression. He'd gone from his joking one to . . . well, she didn't quite know. She hadn't seen this one before. But she suspected what it was, if the way his eyes kept flickering from her eyes to her lips was any indication.

She still hadn't removed her hand for some reason, and when she was finally willing herself to do so, Fred stepped closer—or was it her who did?—and then when they were mere inches away from one another she couldn't manage anymore thinking because there was a pounding in her ears. Where was that pounding coming from? Was that her _heartbeat_? Crazy.

Her hands smoothed against the fabric of his shirt, and Hermione marveled at the solidity she felt underneath, not realizing until now that her hands had, on their own, moved to Fred's chest. And while a tiny voice told her that wasn't very proper of her, Fred's fingers trailed up along her left arm, sending goosebumps in its wake, effectively quieting the voice. His hands then settled on the small of her back, causing her to take a sharp breath, and his lips twitched. Their gazes locked onto one another, and she could feel her skin burn the more he leaned in. Her eyelids shut, and she waited for his lips to touch hers . . . any second now . . . just a little bit closer—

Knock, knock!

"Hermione, is that you father?" called Mrs. Weasley from upstairs.

Hermione felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on her, breaking the brief spell she'd been under. She could tell Fred was shaking out of it as well, and they stepped apart.

Mrs. Weasley was heard descending the stairs and as if that wasn't enough, it appeared Mr. Weasley was trailing behind, probably eager to meet Officer Granger.

There came another knock and Hermione gave Fred a smile that she hoped told him how sorry she actually was that they'd been interrupted, but inwardly she rejoiced in the confirmation that came from this. She was no longer doubting he at least had _some_ feelings for her; that he wanted to be more than friends, and for that tiny progress she supposed the kiss could wait.

She opened the door.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: I KNOW, I'M EVIL! But you didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? ;)**

 **Anyway, hello, lovelies! Sorry it's been a while but I've been working on some of my other stuff and also planning the upcoming chapters of this one.**

 **I'm as always thankful for all of your reviews! They make me smile so much and not to mention, I love hearing from you!**

 **And to all the favs and follows: thank youuuuuuu!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	20. Chapter 20

Late Lunch, Chapter 20

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione woke that Monday morning feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

The reign of Umbridge always felt as if it had lasted close to a year rather than the few weeks it actually had, putting a damper to her mood the instant her school week began. But today, despite her horrid schedule, Hermione happily got ready for school.

She found herself looking forward to meet her ever-growing group of friends; to chat with Katie, gossip with Ginny, joke with Ron and George, and of course . . . Fred.

Hermione sighed dreamily.

Fred, who matched her own wit; who made her smile; who made her laugh till her stomach and cheeks hurt. Fred, who made her all sorts of nervous when he looked at her. Fred, who had almost _kissed_ her.

Remembering that little fact took her back to two days ago, when she and Fred had unfortunately been interrupted.

 _Hermione opened the door and was met with the sight of her father in a uniform. She thinks she hears Fred mutter 'oh bugger' behind her._

" _Hermione!" her father greeted her. "And . . ."_

 _Fred stepped forward and shook her father's hand. "Fred Weasley, sir. We met the other day at the station."_

" _Yes, of course . . ."_

 _Mr. Granger glanced at Hermione, who hurried to add, "Me and Ginny had a lovely time, Dad. She's in the living room if you want to see her again?"_

 _He quickly shook his head. "No need to make a fuss, I saw her yesterday at dinner, after all."_

" _Arthur, stop gawking, you look like a madman! Hello, Officer, it's a pleasure to meet you again!"_

 _Mrs. Weasley appeared with her husband in tow and the two of them exchanged pleasantries with Hermione's father. When it seemed as if Mr. Weasley was getting ready to start his interview, he was quickly pulled away, and Hermione and Fred exchanged amused glances while bidding each other a quick goodbye._

"Hermione! Breakfast, darling!"

Hermione snapped out of her reverie and hurried downstairs. It was one of those rare days where her mother had a client cancel last minute and she could stay home and cook Hermione breakfast.

"It smells lovely, Mum," said Hermione, breathing in the scent.

"Thank you! Tried a new recipe. I daresay I've still got it." She chuckled. "My, aren't we looking nice today?"

Hermione involuntarily touched her fingers to her hair. "Why, thank you, Mum."

"Oh, you know what I mean. You usually don't spend more than five seconds in front of the mirror. Special occasion?"

Hermione thanked her mother as she received a prepared plate of food. "Not exactly," she said, immediately digging in. "I suppose I just had time to spare today."

"Mhm. So this has nothing to do with the boy you were visiting Saturday?"

Hermione nearly choked. "What?"

"Your father, clever a policeman as he is, was never a teenage girl, darling. So, tell me, what's his name?"

"His name is Ginny, he's got long red hair and bigger breasts than mine."

"Oh, he sounds perfect," her mother chimed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, I'd better be going if I'm to meet Harry in time."

"All right, as long as you understand this won't be the last time I ask you about this," her mother said in a sing-song voice.

"Thank you for breakfast, Mum," Hermione said, ignoring her.

The whole way to her and Harry's meet place, Hermione pondered how she'd present the truth to her mother. She would have to eventually if whatever it was she had with Fred turned into something more. For now, though, it was an attraction. And did she really have to disclose every attraction she felt toward other people to her parents?

No, not really, she argued.

Besides, just as Fred and George suspected their parents wouldn't approve of their prank on Umbridge, so did Hermione with hers. Therefore, she'd rather not tell them anything that could potentially lead to them finding out about it, which meant using Ginny as a cover.

Harry arrived and they biked to school. Unlike her mother, he wasn't asking too much about the visit to the Burrow. Mostly, he asked if she'd enjoyed herself and if she and Fred were planning on having a spring wedding.

He'd gotten a pinch on the arm for that last one.

They bid their 'See you later's and Hermione went to her first class.

Katie was already seated and waved enthusiastically for her to join. "The Dumbridge hasn't arrived yet."

"The lack of evil atmosphere and presence of sunlight and laughter was rather telling," Hermione observed as she sat down.

Katie smiled. "How was your weekend?"

Hermione fought a blush at her knowing stare. "It was fine."

"Looks like more than fine, I'd say. You're like a tomato."

"And _you're_ turning into Ginny."

"Please," Katie scoffed, "Ginny took after me. The girl worships me."

"You're sure you're not thinking of another Ginny? Or you know, perhaps even a _Tracey_."

Katie laughed. "I almost regret telling you about that. You know, she actually called the other day."

"Really?" Hermione asked, feeling genuinely surprised.

Katie nodded. "She wanted to try again, but I . . . well, you know what the people around her are like."

Hermione did indeed. While Tracey herself never warranted much attention, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode most definitely did. She supposed Daphne Greengrass was all right, though. And then there was the fact that Draco Malfoy and his cronies circled around them as well. The wealthy flocked to each other, and whether it was from affection or obligation Hermione didn't know, but it wasn't a world she could ever imagine Katie would want to get caught up in.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I know you liked her."

"It is what it is," Katie shrugged. "So, are you absolutely sure Harry's godfather—"

"I beg you not to finish that sentence."

Katie laughed.

The last of the students entered the classroom now and Hermione was surprised when Cho sat down right behind them.

"Good morning, Hermione and Katie," she said, smiling. Her friend Marietta sat down next to her, greeting them as well.

"You seem to be in an awfully good mood," said Katie, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a nice day," said Cho and shrugged.

Hermione, Katie and Marietta exchanged looks.

"Cho, you know it's Monday, right?"

"Oh, I know, but can't a person be in a good mood in spite of that?"

Katie narrowed her eyes. "First Hermione and now you, Cho. Very suspicious."

Whatever Cho was going to say in response they didn't get to know since Umbridge had entered and silenced the class.

Hermione turned to face the front and as she did she couldn't help but notice the look Umbridge was giving them, and most especially, Cho.

Hermione heard the other girl shuffle awkwardly in her seat, but instead of preparing herself to launch another defiant arm-raise and rant, Hermione simply sat there, her brain playing her images of fireworks. It took a bit of restraint to keep from smiling.

The toad was going to get hers soon enough.

And Hermione couldn't wait.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: It feels like forever, mates! How are you? Sorry about the delay, I was just working on some other things and so this had to be paused for a while.**

 **I want to thank you for still sticking with the story and hope you enjoyed this despite the slight filler feel.**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	21. Chapter 21

Late Lunch, Chapter 21

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione and Katie walked to lunch together, sitting themselves down with Harry and Ron at a small table. But as more people arrived, they were forced to add chairs to comply with the growing group. Eventually they resorted to bringing another table to fit them all.

Fred, who had been accompanied by George, Angelina, Lee and Alicia, sat down on an empty seat next to Hermione. Opposite her, Katie was exchanging amused looks with Harry, who sat on Hermione's other side.

Hermione ignored them.

"Why, aren't we a loving bunch?" said Alicia, squeezing in between George and Lee.

"I'd say," agreed Lee, "Didn't know we were adopting so many strays."

"I think it's nice," said Angelina, smiling at Hermione, who smiled back.

George shook his head. "Well, you would. You're going to turn this into an opportunity to enroll new members to our after-school football team, aren't you?"

"Don't make me sound like Wood, Weasley," Angelina warned—her eyes slightly narrowed, aiming her fork at him in warning— though still with a hint of a smile. "Also, you _know_ it wouldn't hurt with a few more members."

George held his hands up. "Whatever you say, dear."

The group gave small chuckles as Angelina rolled her eyes, though Hermione could swear she saw some pink on the other girl's cheeks.

"Don't worry, Angelina. You wouldn't be getting much outta this one, anyway," said Ron, pointing to Hermione. "Her kicks are just sad."

Hermione gaped. "Excuse me? Who is it that can't keep the opposing team from scoring?"

"Now, children," interrupted Lee, "there's no reason to fight. Especially since we all know that, in the end, you're all just playing for seconds when compared to _me_."

The chuckles resumed.

"So," Fred asked, turning to Hermione while everyone else were focusing on their food and chatter, "how was the rest of your weekend?"

Hermione shrugged. "It was good. I prepared a bit for the last few tests we have; you know, going over notes—"

"For the millionth time, I'm sure," murmured Harry.

Hermione shot him a glare. "What was that?"

Harry plastered on an innocent smile. "Nothing."

Fred, Ron and Katie laughed.

"You can borrow my old notes if you'd like," Fred offered casually, cutting up his food as he spoke. "Some of them are probably bound to be helpful."

"Oh, erm . . ." Hermione said, unsure of what to do.

Harry laughed. "Sorry, mate, but this one has a very specific system."

Hermione shot Harry another look before turning to Fred. "I have a certain way of taking notes that ensures it's organized and comprehensible. And it is all colour coded afterwards, and I make notes on the notes and—"

Fred grinned.

Hermione sighed. "I sound absolutely insane."

"Mental," Ron agreed, making Katie swat his arm.

"Don't listen to him," said Fred, throwing an arm around her and rubbing her shoulder reassuringly. "I think barmy people are the most fun ones anyway."

"Aren't I lucky," Hermione said sarcastically, as Fred and the others laughed. She tried not to let her thoughts linger on the way Fred's laugh sounded so pleasant, nor how close he was. And _certainly_ not on how his arm now rested on the back of her chair . . .

She cleared her throat. "How was your weekend?"

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Hm? Mine? It was rather dull."

"Now, I refuse to believe that," said Hermione, sending him her best teasing look.

"Not saying there was nothing done, but much like you I studied," said Fred. "Then there's the new toy I've been tinkering with—"

"Toy?"

"It's a small project. One of our newest, George and mine. We invent stuff."

"Really?"

"Don't sound too surprised," Fred laughed. "We don't accomplish all of those brilliant pranks for nothing."

"Of course, it's just that I'm— I wasn't aware. I didn't know."

"Well, I didn't know about the dedicated note-taking, so we're even." He winked.

"I guess we are," said Hermione, smiling. "At least for now, since I doubt it's the last time we'll learn new things about each other."

It wasn't hard to tell that Fred looked particularly happy about that. She hoped that she herself exuded an equally excited air.

The end of lunch hour soon approached and the group got ready to scatter.

Before Fred left with his friends, he grabbed Hermione's hand and swung it idly as he talked. It was all she could manage to listen and nod politely as the bizarre mix of shock and amusement coursed through her body. It was a very intimate way of touching, but she supposed that since they'd been on their way to actually _kiss_ one another two days ago, the hand-holding wasn't that big a thing. Besides, she thought it felt nice.

Once he truly needed to leave Fred held on for as long as he could while backing away—right until the fingertips—spouting nonsense about how she should try to survive without his presence.

"It will be a challenge, but I have faith in you, Herms," he said.

"Go to class," said Hermione exasperatedly.

He saluted her with a grin and obliged her request by disappearing around the corner.

"You two are so nauseatingly cute, I'm going to vomit," said Katie who had been watching the whole thing while she waited for her classmate.

"Don't do it quite yet though, I need the loo first."

"Want me to wait for you?"

"No, go ahead and get us some good seats instead," said Hermione, ignoring the way Katie rolled her eyes while she saluted in a similar manner to Fred.

Hermione found the nearest bathroom—empty— and entered.

She was just about to exit the stall when the door to the girls' bathroom opened and she heard her own name mentioned by a couple of chatty girls. Not sure if she should reveal herself, she waited.

Huge mistake.

"—not saying Granger is ugly," said one voice. "It's just that it's so sudden, and weird."

"I get what you mean," said another, "but they seem to like each other. Or, I mean the twin does. Now that I think about it, it's kind of hard to see what she feels. I mean, he's all over her, but she just stands there."

"Right? That's exactly what I thought too. Honestly, he's well fit—"

"You don't even know who _he_ is," giggled the other.

"Lucky that they're twins and therefore both fit."

"That's not how it works."

"Yeah, yeah."

There was a short pause where it sounded like the girls were checking themselves in the mirrors, judging by the small phrases like 'should I put my hair up?' and 'no, that lipstick looks great'.

There was a smacking of lips and then, "But real talk; I don't see how this can last for longer than a week."

"A week? Please, I give it a day. She is very bookish. And not even the type of nerd who's nice, you know."

"I know. She's so rude to you unless you're in her circle of friends." The girl snorted. "If you can call it that. It's more like a dot. A dot where Potter stands."

"Don't even get me started on that. But at least they're childhood friends, so it's sort of understandable. He probably wouldn't even be with her either if they hadn't grown up together."

"Mhm. Kinda makes you wonder why the twin is though. Or for that matter, why she's with him."

"Don't you remember that foreign exchange student? They were in the library _a lot_. And he was also extremely fit."

"Oh my god, I forgot all about that! But he was a very well-behaved bloke, nothing like the twins who are in trouble all the time." There was a gasp. "Hey, maybe—because she's such a proper nerd— she got bored and wanted to move on to the bad boys. Like a thing to show her parents."

"Ugh, you mean she might just want to use him for a rebel thing? That is so pathetic. Not to mention mean. How could someone do that?"

"Beats me. All I hope is that the twin snaps out of it."

"Agreed. By the way, do you know if McGonagall wanted the paper—"

And then the girls left.

Hermione sank to sit on the lid of the toilet, feeling light-headed and struggling to remember how to breathe. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as her brain processed all of this.

She knew it was ridiculous.

She knew that the girls had just been speculating.

And yet. . .

It took another five minutes, but eventually Hermione wobbled out of her stall and washed her hands. It was mechanical, and had she bothered to observe her face in the mirror she would find it to be very pale and expressionless.

She was supposed to have another lesson before the day ended, but she couldn't bring herself to go.

For the first time in her life, Hermione skived off class.

* * *

It didn't take long after the lessons were over for Harry to text her, wondering where she was and why she wasn't meeting him to go home. She texted him back, saying she didn't feel too good, and therefore had gone home.

Ten minutes after that she got a text from Fred.

 _-You all right? Harry said you felt ill._

Hermione bit her lip, wanting nothing more than to hide her phone and never answer it ever again. But she knew that would be even more suspicious.

 _-I'm fine, just a stomach ache. It'll pass soon enough._

 _-Okay. Get better. Need that brain of yours at its full capacity for Operation Umbridge!_

She smiled weakly. Of course, Umbridge . . . the plan.

She didn't answer this one, and let her phone lie forgotten next to her bed. For once, she needed to not think.

So, Hermione slept.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: The lesson here is that you obviously should never go to the bathroom by yourself.**

 **And hello, you guys!**

 **Thank you for the amazingly nice reviews! And of course the follows and favs as well!**

 **So yeah, Hermione didn't take the gossip very well, and we'll see what happens because of that….**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	22. Chapter 22

Late Lunch, Chapter 22

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

" _I don't see how this can last for longer than a week."_

Crunch!

Hermione blinked and immediately cursed at the sight of her crumbled toast. She wiped her hands clean and chucked the remains into the bin. She didn't feel like eating anyway.

She stared at the watch on the kitchen wall and sighed. Unless she wanted to be late, it was time to head out. She'd held it off for as long as she could.

Despite her meltdown or whatever it was, Hermione had decided to finally go back to school. As fun as laying around doing had been these past two days (it hadn't), she refused to miss any more school. And then there was the matter of her parents . . .

Mr. and Mrs. Granger had come home, wondering why they'd received notice from school that their daughter had left before it was finished, only to find Hermione asleep in bed in her uniform. Something about that image, combined with the fact that she never did anything like it, must have led them to agree not give her too much grief about it, for which Hermione was grateful. She didn't need trouble with her parents on top of everything.

Nevertheless, she knew that she shouldn't push her luck, which was why she was on her way to school, fighting the tightening in her stomach.

" _I don't see how this can last for longer than a week."_

Hermione groaned.

Why did she always have to overthink and obsess over things? Why couldn't her mind just be quiet for once?

"Er . . . morning, 'Mione?"

Hermione looked up from the sidewalk.

"Harry," she said, "Good morning." She noticed him take in her state, but apparently her mind didn't find _that_ worthy of her worries, so it let it be and Hermione could hop on her bike unconcerned. She didn't say much during the way, though; her thoughts prior to Harry's appearance returning. Harry was equally quiet; no doubt sensing something was wrong.

They arrived at school and of course it took less than ten minutes for her to spot Fred pass by.

Hermione retreated behind a wall, dragging Harry with her.

"What the—"

"Tell me when he's gone?"

Harry's brows furrowed, his green searching her face. "Hermione, what is—"

" _Please_."

She could tell Harry wanted to ask her more, but still, he did as she asked. He peeked his head forward from behind the wall.

"All clear."

Hermione sighed in relief.

"Mind explaining what that was all about?" Harry asked.

Hermione worried her lip. She didn't want to, but she knew Harry would worry if she didn't give him something.

"I just wasn't sure if my breath was bad."

 _Worst. Excuse. Ever._

Harry's expression softened. "Sometimes I forget you care about these things."

Hermione rolled her eyes, feeling instantly at ease. "As if you don't."

"No, you see, I don't worry about what people think—"

"Hey, Cho!"

Harry's hand flew to his hair, and Hermione cackled.

It felt good to laugh.

"All right, all right," said Harry, caught between a blush and a glare. "Let's get ourselves to class before it gets too late, okay?"

After that first hour of class, Hermione let her anxiousness fade even more. Katie sat next to her, having forgiven Hermione for only sending a tiny text on the day of her disappearance _('You need to send more than "Going home" next time'_ ), and Hermione was set on learning and paying attention in class, rather than paying attention to . . . the other thing. There was no point in doing so, since he wasn't in her class, she reasoned.

As the teacher emphasized once more what were to be expected for the finals, she briefly let her pen rest as she realized she shouldn't worry about running into Fred during their breaks either. After all, they rarely met even when she wanted them to.

The horrible part would be lunch.

She knew for a fact that their schedule for lunch coincided today and it left her without a wide range of options. Either she skip lunch—something she wasn't too keen on (and something that would definitely have Harry worried) — or, she ignores Fred if he sits down next to her . . .

Blast everything.

Hermione sighed, grieving the calm that had lasted mere seconds, and eventually decided on the lesser evil; she would have to skip lunch.

She hid out in the library, making herself at home in one of her favoured corners, and gave silent thanks for having a place where she could nibble on the apple she'd brought from home in peace.

She read her book undisturbed until her phone chimed.

 _-Library?_

Just like Harry to know her. It hadn't been more than two days and she could already tell that she wouldn't be able to hold this from him much longer.

 _-Yes. Had to catch up on some homework._

 _-Don't forget to eat the apple._

Hermione felt her eyes start to burn. She truly didn't deserve him.

 _-Don't worry. Eating as we speak._

 _-Good._

Her arm felt heavy as she set aside her phone. Her whole body did. It all weighed on her too much. She would simply have to tell Harry today. There wasn't much else to do.

The remainder of lunch hour was spent in frustration as she was forced to re-read the same lines over and over again, while her lower lip was gnawed to pieces.

"What happened to you?" Katie asked when they met up for their next lesson.

"Wanted to catch up on what I missed," answered Hermione, finding the guilt of lying to her new friend not as bad, but still horrifyingly similar to what she felt for Harry.

Hermione could have sworn Katie's eyes narrowed slightly, but all she said was, "Like we thought then."

Hermione didn't ask what she meant.

Once school ended, Hermione hurried outside and waited for Harry.

She knew she would have to tell him. She couldn't keep this up. And to be perfectly honest, she didn't want to. She needed help deciding what to do.

Raven hair and glasses caught her attention and Hermione felt her lips tug up at the sight of her friend. She raised her hand to wave when Harry looked at her, but then stopped in horror when she saw that he wasn't alone.

"There she is," said Fred, grinning at her, and being completely oblivious to her inner turmoil. Just perfectly light and happy. Just Fred. "Hope you've not worked yourself to death."

Hermione gave him a tightlipped smile in response. She looked at Harry. "We should hurry . . . you know, for the thing."

Harry furrowed his brows for half a second, but caught on quick. "Right, the thing. Sorry, Fred, we should really be on our way."

Fred blinked. "All right. See you tomorrow, then."

Hermione avoided his eyes. "Yes, see you tomorrow."

She stepped away quickly and the last thing she saw before leaving was Fred's confused expression and—her heart dropped to her stomach— that he held a sandwich.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: OH MY GOD YES THE SANDWICH WAS FOR HER BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE SKIPPED LUNCH! I'M SUCH A MONSTER I'M SORRY!**

 **Anywaaaaayyyy, you guyssssss….**

 **I'VE REACHED OVER 300 REVIEWS! LIKE HOW ARE YOU THIS AMAZING?! I LOVE YOU ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL DUCKLINGS! THANK YOU!**

 **I hope you're still hanging on because shit's gonna happen and Harry will make Hermione snap out of this, I promise :***

 **Hope you enjoyed!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	23. Chapter 23

Late Lunch, Chapter 23

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"What the hell, Hermione?"

Hermione stopped and looked up in surprise, not having expected such a strong reaction from her best friend. Not to mention that they'd barely even closed the door behind them yet.

Harry was still looking at her, stubbornness engraved on his every feature and she knew that this time he wasn't going to fall for whatever half-hearted lie she threw at him. An alert Harry was an observant Harry.

Hermione glanced around, and noting that none of the other Potters were present, she let go.

"I don't know," she whispered, barely managing it since a sob threatened to escape. "I don't know."

Harry waited.

"I don't _know_ ," she repeated, this time louder, "what to do, Harry. I don't know what I'm doing. For the first time I feel completely out of my depth."

"Did he do something?"

Harry's question caught Hermione completely by surprise; the thought the Fred would ever . . .

"No!" she hurried. "Gosh, no! Nothing like that happened, Harry. I promise."

Harry's shoulders relaxed. "Good. I don't know if Dad would enjoy having to arrest his son for murder."

Hermione gave a small smile, but a part of her knew that Harry wasn't kidding.

Harry let out a huff of air. "Let's get a cuppa. That's what Mum always does when things need to be discussed; makes tea. What do you say?"

Hermione nodded.

The two of them prepared tea together; Harry putting the kettle on and Hermione bringing out cups and tea bags. They waited in silence as the water boiled, leaning against the counter.

When everything was done Harry gestured for Hermione to follow him to the sitting area.

They realized quickly that it was too warm to drink tea and cozy down in a sofa, but somehow it still worked; Hermione felt a bit better. She felt ready to talk.

"So," she began, and instantly bit her lip. What was she even going to say? She supposed she could start with the conversation she overheard in the girls' bathroom. "You probably noticed I've been a bit off since Monday." Her peripheral caught Harry give a nod in affirmation. Hermione swallowed a bit more of her warm beverage before continuing, "There's a reason for that, and it's not stomach ache . . ."

Hermione then told Harry everything. She told him how she'd been reluctant to show herself after catching someone mention her name and that she as consequence overheard two girls in school discuss her. She told him they'd spoken of how unfriendly of a nerd she was who didn't have friends beyond him, and how they suspected obligation played part in his keeping her company. She told him how they saw Fred as this out-of-her-league guy that someday would likely realize he'd never really liked her to begin with and that his interest in her was merely based on curiosity; a curiosity for the different. And lastly, she told him about those words; the words that kept ringing in her head . . .

"They said we wouldn't last more than a week, Harry," Hermione said, finally breaking down completely. Part of her wanted to scold herself for getting this emotional over a boy, but she also knew it was more than that . . .

"I don't have a lot of people in my life," she continued, wiping her tears as soon as they came. Her sleeve was drenched by the time she collected herself. "I know I have you and my parents, and Lily and James, and even Sirius, but it's never—it's never been like _this_."

Hermione thought of Ginny with her arms on her hips; Katie with that glint in her eyes; Ron's approving gaze when she remarked on his brothers' stupidity; Lee, Alicia and Angelina smiling at her and being welcoming despite not knowing her well; George's gentle teasing of her bookworm persona . . . All of those things . . .

"I don't want them to disappear," Hermione confessed. "If Fred and I start dating we would eventually break things off and they'll be gone, Harry. The only reason they're even around me now is because of Fred—and don't tell me it's not true! I'm not stupid."

Harry smiled softly. "I know that."

She sniffed. "Well, good."

It was silent for a moment.

"'Mione, can I ask you a question?"

She nodded weakly.

"Do you honestly believe Fred would leave you after a week?"

She looked up. "Maybe not. But it would happen in the end. Either I would drive him away with my craziness— I mean, look at me—" she gestured to her tear drenched, messy self, "or he'd snap out of it like they said. We're too different, and I can't help but wonder if he even truly likes me or if he's just curious about something new he's found."

At her final words, Hermione could instantly feel a shift in the room's atmosphere and she dared a glance in Harry's direction.

He looked angry.

"I can't deal with this again," he said.

Hermione blinked and her brows pulled together in confusion. "What? What do you mean 'again'?"

"Krum."

Now she felt even more confused. "Viktor? What about him? We haven't spoken in months."

Harry sighed. "This is awfully similar to how you and Krum ended up. He was head over heels for you, Hermione. And you refused to see it."

"You're being silly," she said. "I helped him in English, and yes, we kissed a little, but we decided it was better to remain friends."

Harry looked at her pointedly. " _You_ decided."

"What? No—"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me Viktor Krum told you he only wanted to remain friends."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times, before realizing that Harry was right. She _had_ been the one to suggest it, Viktor had simply agreed to it because of her. Because she had thought long-distance would be too difficult. Because . . .

"I thought he didn't fancy me. Not really."

Harry nodded empathetically, but still looked pleased she understood where he was getting at, "You didn't think he fancied you and you came up with excuses to stop yourself from getting hurt. True, Krum did move back to Bulgaria after his year here, but what's your excuse this time? Some gossip you overheard in a bathroom?"

Hermione felt her temper flare a bit. "Yes, but they have a point, don't they? What are the odds that this will last? We're too different! He's popular and social, and I'm the exact opposite."

Harry absorbed her words and everything with it. He mulled it all over for a few seconds and then said, "You know, I understand your concerns, but I suppose you've got to ask yourself one thing."

"What?"

"Would you ever regret not trying?"

Hermione looked at him. "How'd you mean?"

"One day—in the future—do you think you'll regret the fact that you gave up without even trying something with Fred?"

It was Hermione's turn to think, but to her surprise the answer came to her quicker than she'd expected. "Yes. Yes, I probably would."

Harry smiled. "That's it, then."

"That's it?"

Suddenly, Harry moved to face her directly, leaving her no choice but to stare into his green eyes. "You know my Dad fancied my Mum for ages, right?"

The countless stories Hermione had been told over the years brought a tiny pull to her lips. "Yes."

"Well," said Harry, "she wasn't too keen on him— found him to be quite a menace actually—and when he finally saw how she felt and realized how he'd behaved, he tried to respect her wishes and began dating others."

"I didn't know that," said Hermione, attempting to imagine James doing anything but trail behind Lily in his youth.

"They don't mention it much, but Dad told me that once that he grew up he realized that he'd been unfair in his chase for her affection and that if he fancied her as much he claimed then he would stay away. And not until then did Mum consider him. When she learned what he'd done she understood that they were well suited after all. He'd grown up and she was scared she'd regret not being with him, so she started chasing him back."

Hermione couldn't help but gape. "Lily chased James?"

"Yep."

"Wow," she said.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, though, 'Mione?"

She nodded. "But Harry, what happened with your parents is one in a million. Fred and I aren't James and Lily."

Harry smiled. "No, you're not, but isn't that kind of the point?"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Basically, Harry's saying that Hermione and Fred are one in a million and we see here a clear example of the sap he'd be if his parents had survived. I have a hard time imagining James Potter wouldn't spread his romantic, cheesy way of seeing love onto his son. Therefore we have Harry the love guru.**

 **ALSO I adored your comments for the last chapter! So cute! I was reading them whilst looking at you as floofy wittle bunnies who're angry and I was just like aaaaw. So adorable.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I wrote it one day so I have no idea how it held up, but I just got so energized from your angry caps lock words *hearts***

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	24. Chapter 24

Late Lunch, Chapter 24

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The next day, Hermione felt refreshed and more like herself again and she could tell the others took notice. Katie was no longer glancing in her direction every now and then like she had the day before, and though Hermione had only met Ginny briefly in between classes, the redhead was now rid of the suspicious stare she'd throw Hermione's way.

"I can't believe they're allowed to serve us this garbage," said Ginny, lifting her spoon to let the soup splash back down into her bowl.

Hermione and Katie scrunched up their noses in distaste.

"D'you really have to ruin it for the rest of us too?" asked Katie, having picked up her own spoon of soup a second before, but was now putting it back down again with a sigh.

Ginny laughed. "How's your finals looking?" she asked, breaking off a piece of bread to munch on instead.

"They seem all right," said Hermione. "I don't expect we'll be examined on much besides the things we've already been introduced to in class."

"Well, that's nice," said Ginny.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, don't be fooled though, Ginny. Hermione says she doesn't 'expect', but really she means that none of the teachers she interrogated said otherwise."

Hermione blushed. "Asking the teachers questions isn't out of the ordinary."

"Calling them on weekends is."

"That was one time! I had some questions for Mrs. Vector!" Hermione argued, attempting to drown out Ginny and Katie's giggles.

While her friends continued their silliness, Hermione crossed her arms and looked away. She was watching Colin Creevey arrange his bowl in front of him, his phone in hand, ready to take pictures to upload onto his blog, when she saw the twins and Lee seat themselves a bit further away.

"You think they haven't seen us?" asked Katie, unaware of the knot forming in Hermione's stomach. He couldn't be angry at her, could he? Sure, she'd ignored his texts for two days and then come up with a lie—a very transparent lie—to snub him off with, when he'd been nothing but kind . . .

Who was she trying to fool, of course he was angry. She would have been.

"Dunno, but it doesn't really matter, does it? Don't you all have classes soon?" remarked Ginny.

"Blimey, you're right!" Katie hurried to rise and grab her tray. "Hermione, you coming?"

"Y-yeah," said Hermione, trying desperately not to glance over at Fred's table. "See you later, Ginny."

"Later!" said Ginny, just as a blonde girl approached and sat down next to her. Hermione heard Ginny ask the girl where she'd been to which the girl replied 'butterflies'. Hermione caught up with Katie.

"Hey, Katie," said Hermione once they were out in the corridor, "I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"How do you know if someone's angry with you?"

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Making enemies without me, Granger? Oh, come on, don't make that face, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Honestly? It depends from person to person. Mind me asking who's angry with you?"

Hermione started shaking her head, as if to say no, but then stopped. Katie had known Fred for years, so she'd know what to look out for with him specifically. Wasn't it best to ask someone who would know for sure? But then . . . Katie was Fred's friend and if Hermione was wrong, and Fred found out about it through Katie he might want to confront Hermione and make a big deal out of it. Hermione didn't want it to become this huge thing to deal with. She just wanted everything back to normal.

Sod it all.

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's all right?" Hermione said finally.

"Okay," said Katie, looking understanding and sympathetic, much to Hermione's relief. "Well, then, I don't know. If they're not shouting at you, it's sort of difficult to figure out if what they're feeling is anger."

"How about if they're avoiding you?"

"Oh, if they're avoiding you they could be angry, yes." Hermione's face fell, and Katie hurried to add, "But as I said, it depends from person to person."

"Thank you for the . . . thank you, Katie. Let's get to our lockers before the lesson starts."

Katie looked at her, concerned. "Sure."

Though her mood never really improved, Hermione gradually re-found the determination she'd acquired after her talk with Harry yesterday. So what if Fred was angry? Anger wasn't that hard to deal with. Disappointment, now that was a difficult emotion to be subjected to. But anger? Hermione could work with that.

She convinced herself to find him before the end of the day and speak with him. Show that she was no longer in her weird state of mind and perhaps that sense of normalcy would affect him and they'd be fine again. If not, then Hermione had another plan in mind.

All in all, she was tired of being sad and anxious.

After school, Hermione sought him out quickly with the help of Angelina, whom Hermione stumbled into at the football field.

 _Past the school nurse's office, then left and a right._

She found Fred standing next to George by what appeared to be their lockers, arranging things they'd need to bring home with them. A part of Hermione took a moment to appreciate the amount of books Fred was stuffing down his bag. Another part wondered if there was something wrong with her finding the image utterly attractive.

 _Focus!_

Hermione shook her head and just as she walked over to them, the twins noticed her.

"Granger!" George greeted her. "Long time, no see. Feeling better, I hope?"

Hermione, having been busy trying to catch Fred's eyes, jumped just a tiny bit. "What? Oh, yes. Much better now. How have you been?"

"Oh, you know, same old. Freddie over here's been grumpy while you were away, though," George joked and wondered aloud if there was any connection. He quickly caught on to the mood when Fred didn't react and Hermione only managed a strained smile, and turned uncharacteristically quiet.

Hermione didn't mind that though, she was focused on other things. Like the fact that Fred was still avoiding her gaze and it was getting annoying. Surely, he wasn't this immature? Only, she realized, it was she who'd been the immature one in the first place and Fred was only retaliating. Perhaps her seeking him out hadn't been a good idea, after all. She'd been naïve to think they could return to normal just by talking. Obviously, this would require more than that to be fixed.

"Hermione," said Fred suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts, "we're on our way to the bus."

"Oh," she said, feeling that tiny hope that had erupted with the mention of her name quickly deflate. "Well, I wouldn't want to be in your way, so you go ahead."

Barely looking at her, Fred walked away, and Hermione watched him, at a loss of what else to say. She saw George send her one last conflicted look before he followed his twin.

Once the hallway was empty Hermione could feel her eyes fill with tears, but she placed her palms to them, as if willing them to stay put.

 _Enough crying and moping about!_ She scolded herself. _He didn't do anything so there's no reason . . ._

She took a deep, steadying breath. She didn't want to lose Fred, she didn't, she truly didn't, but she also didn't want to turn into a pathetic mess either. Where had that determination from before gone? The one she'd got from talking to Harry yesterday?

 _Harry . . ._

That's when Hermione remembered what Harry had told her. She recalled what he'd said about Lily being in a similar position, where she'd been close to losing James, someone she'd grown to care for, and as she did Hermione's thoughts turned to other things too. They turned to the first time she'd stumbled into Fred in the library; to when he'd sprinted to her at the party; his messages sent the next day, designed to make her laugh; when he first sat down next to her at lunch . . .

All of these things . . .

Fred had chased her a long time, Hermione realized. Perhaps even since they first met at the station— so it seemed only right that she would now have to chase him back.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, not everything's fixed BUT IT WILL BE!**

 **Stay tuned folks!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	25. Chapter 25

Late Lunch, Chapter 25

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Sigh.

Fred sank further into his seat, waiting for the lesson to start. George and Lee were to his left, babbling on about something, but they didn't bother him. Bless. His two best friends had sensed early on that his mood was a bit prickly today, and didn't try to lift his spirits by including him in mindless chatter. George had however questioned him a bit the day before about his treatment of Hermione.

Hermione.

Never before had Fred encountered a person so absolutely brilliant but oh so incredibly infuriating at the same time. He supposed this was karma for all the people he had made frustrated with thinking the same thing about him.

Fred almost smiled at this. Almost.

Honestly, he'd thought he knew the girl by now, but apparently he'd been wrong. It was strange to think that a people-person such as him could get it all so twisted, but that's how it would appear now. He had been cautious, realizing from the start that Hermione was a girl who would get spooked if pushed too fast, and so he had taken his time and to his immensely pleased surprise it had looked as if it had been working. At least that's what he'd thought.

He frowned, thinking about their near kiss and what happened thereafter. She had shown no sign of being unhappy about their day together at the Burrow. On the contrary, by Hermione standards she'd practically been glowing. But then something had changed. And Fred had no idea what it was.

" _We're on our way to the bus."_

What. A. Tosser. Fred had seen the hurt in her eyes, yet he had kept on walking, too confused and hurt himself to turn back and speak to her properly. Tosser. But then . . . she hadn't apologized, had she? She had just come up to him, looking as if she expected him to forget that she'd practically ignored him for days. How could he possibly forget?

He sighed again.

Looking around, trying to distract himself, he found that all the seats were filled and felt a flicker of surprise at the fact that their teacher hadn't arrived yet. She was usually punctual. No matter, Fred was just happy that this was their last lesson with Umbridge, horrible toad that she was. He almost smiled again, remembering the nickname Hermione and Harry had granted the woman, but stopped. He'd just started shaking his head, when—

Click, cluck, click, cluck.

A pair of heels entered the room.

"What the . . ." Lee began, but was quickly silenced, along with the rest of the class, who Fred now noticed had been in a fit of excitement over something. He followed their line of sight.

"Yes, yes, settle down," said Umbridge. She brushed a lock of hair away from her face as it fell and stuck to her forehead. "Just had a bit of a run in with some pestering creatures. . ."

"Pestering creatures, Miss?" asked Alicia, looking too stunned to think about the fact that she'd addressed Umbridge properly.

Umbridge, on the other hand, was not in a mood to speak to anyone properly it; her otherwise forced 'sweetness' was completely gone, replaced by a scowl, and her hands were constantly on the move to right her appearance. She adjusted the hem of her pink cardigan. "Never mind that, Spinnet. Those insects are at the mercy of Mr. Filch and unless you want to be too, we should get on with our lesson."

Everyone in the room exchanged looks. Insects? What was she talking about?

Umbridge cleared her throat, effectively silencing most of them again.

"Now, if you would, we'll begin our last lesson before summer. I don't have much to say except that your work has been abysmal, and were it not for my brief stay here and Mister Lupin's voice carrying a stronger weight in your grading I would fail most of you."

Fred's eyes traveled to a smug looking Montague and his two friends whose less than kind views had coincided with Umbridge's. No doubt who she would have awarded the highest grades if she could.

Umbridge continued rambling on about something or other, when she made for her seat at the front of the room. The weight of her made the chair release a loud honk horn sound.

There were gasps and shrieks, as they all startled, hurrying to cover their ears. Umbridge leapt up and clutched her chest. She recovered and leaned down to check the chair. She grasped at something and stood straight again, facing the class.

"Who," she started, holding up a can. "put an air horn under my chair?!"

The students tried not to snigger, and Umbridge soon fastened her glare on the three boys sitting in a row in the back.

"YOU!"

"I swear," Lee hurried, "we had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, d'you really think we'd have settled on just _one_ air horn?"

George sent Fred a warning glare.

"Oh, I don't presume anything when it comes to you three," snarled Umbridge. "Don't you think I haven't heard what you get up to?" She put the air horn down on her desk before going to open the drawer, most likely to get a pen and paper. "I will write to your parents, and the headmaster, and then we'll see if you'll be laughing still—"

Pop! Pop! Pop!

There was fizzling and then popping as colours burst in Umbridge's face. Something must have triggered the small fireworks when the woman opened the desk, but Fred paid no mind to the reason at all for he was busy watching them seemingly chase her around room. He and everyone else laughed.

"Get away, get away!" she repeated, over and over again, but it was futile. The tiny explosions did not cease and eventually Umbridge escaped with a shriek out the door, only to discover several more were being set off after her in the hallway.

Everyone hurried out, eager to watch their least favourite teacher stumble her escape. Fred followed, sporting a huge grin and a need to thank whoever made this happen.

And that's when he saw her.

Crouched behind a couple of lockers—only five steps away— was her unmistakable, wild, curly hair, her brown eyes, and shy smile. She was watching him, he realized. The crowd cheered behind him, but his back was turned so he wasn't sure why, but most likely it was because of more fireworks. But he somehow didn't care.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione waited somewhat anxiously as she heard Umbridge speak to the class. She hadn't managed to get a good look of the older woman before she entered the classroom but Hermione would wager she was a bit of a mess.

Oops.

A smirk began to grow on Hermione's face, but she told it to wait. It wasn't over yet.

A honk horn.

Screams.

Perfect. It wouldn't be long before she—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The door burst open and a pink figure emerged, running away for her life. She stopped and caught her breath in the hallway, thinking she was safe. But not on Hermione's watch. Hermione lit up more of the small fireworks she'd obtained the day before and set them zooming after Umbridge, not worrying about the woman. They wouldn't hurt her. Much.

A laugh began to bubble out of her watching Umbridge run away and how the students who stepped out of their classrooms to watch the spectacle as well cheered. It was all so bizarre and she tried to wrap her head around it.

And that's when she saw him.

Watching his delighted expression made Hermione remember why she'd done all this in the first place.

She got up and prepared to go up to him, to explain. To apologize. But her legs didn't seem to want to move.

Odd.

Hermione looked up from her feet and found Fred staring at her. She gulped and summoned some courage, and spoke. "Hi."

He didn't answer. His eyebrows were slightly knitted together. Confusion, she supposed. Oh, maybe she should tell him what she did.

"Er. . .did you like the fireworks? I got some smaller ones, like we planned, and they only cause tiny explosions, but rather effective nonetheless, don't you think?"

She was babbling, but it was between that or deal with uncomfortable silence. Fred was still unresponsive but a part of her brain noted that he had moved closer. When, she wasn't sure. She just wanted to apologize for everything. She wanted tell him everything, she wanted—That's when Hermione's brain registered that his whole class, plus others who'd had lessons nearby were present, but for the first time she found that she didn't care. She didn't care if they heard. She didn't care that people might see her make a fool out of herself. He mattered. He was worth it.

So, she spoke.

"Fred," she said, perhaps a bit too tentatively for her taste, but she pushed herself to continue, "I'm sorry."

It was dead silent. The fireworks had gone out and Umbridge was far away and the crowd had just noticed her and Fred. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione spotted George looking at his twin, trying to guess his thoughts, just as Hermione was. "Fred," said Hermione again, this time steadier, but still feeling her eyes starting to burn. Why wasn't he saying anything? Did he still hate her? Had she been wrong in thinking this would make him happy?

Hermione inhaled deeply, attempting to calm herself enough to not have her voice break, "I'm sorry. I am, I really am, I'm so sorr—"

The rest of her words were muffled by his lips.

Much like so many weeks ago, Fred hoisted her up, only this time Hermione was above him and he was _kissing_ her. Kissing her like she was air and he was drowning. And she found herself respond in kind. They clung fervently to each other, not caring about the onlookers, and gasped for the other person's lips, kiss and anything else within reach. Her hands found his hair and it was _so_ _soft_. She gave it a tug and she felt his grin on her.

When it ended, they held their gazes locked, foreheads pressed together. Both were panting, but the smiles that grew made it look like being out of breath was the best thing they'd ever experienced.

"I missed you," said Fred.

"And I you," said Hermione. "I'm so sorry, Fred. I panicked—"

He chuckled. Hermione watched in confusion as he kept his smile steady at her apology. "Maybe we shouldn't have this conversation in front of the entire school, yeah?" he explained. And that's when Hermione realized what she'd done.

"Oh my god," she whispered, not daring to look anywhere else but his brown eyes. "Did I just snog your face off in front of the entire school?"

Fred grinned. "Yep."

"Brilliant."

"Want me to carry you out and we'll escape?"

"Skive off school?"

"Unless you'd prefer facing all of them," said Fred, no doubt knowing it was all it would take to convince her to leave.

And left they did.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!**

 **There it was, their first kiss, in front of everyone haha**

 **This is a chapter I had all planned out since I decided to make this a story rather than a one-shot and it feels so surreal to finally have it out there. Anyway, there's more to come, and the kiss is just the beginning! BUT STILL! ISN'T IT NICE TO HAVE HAD THEM REACH THIS POINT?**

 **And thank you for reading, I adore you all *hearts***

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	26. Chapter 26

Late Lunch, Chapter 26

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 _-Sorry I didn't pick up the phone, I can't really talk right now._

 _-I'm hurt, Granger._

 _-You'll live. It's just that my parents want to barbeque in honour of the end of term. We sort of do it every year. I can call you later if you'd like?_

 _-Nah, it's okay. Just wanted to check if you're still up for meeting tomorrow?_

 _-Yes. Two o'clock at the football field, right?_

 _-Yup!_

 _-I'll be there._

 _-Brilliant! See you then._

 _-See you, Fred._

Hermione put away her phone and resumed joining in on her parents' conversation. Though her father was busy setting up the plates, her mother sent Hermione a raised eyebrow, amusement shining through her dark brown eyes. Hermione ignored it.

"So, as I was saying, James caught up to the man, grabbed hold of his coat and—"

Hermione's mother pulled her attention back to her husband and sighed. "Darling, you've told us this story already."

"Have I?"

"Yes. It's the one that ends with James getting a confession from the man through the sheer force of his stare."

Hermione's father looked first at his wife and then at his daughter. "No one in this family appreciates a good classic."

Hermione giggled. "Dad—"

"No, Hermione, obviously my stories aren't welcome anymore in this house. I'll just go get the rest of the things. In silence." He walked grumpily back into the house, his nose in air.

"Your father is quite the ridiculous man," said Hermione's mother meanwhile. "Speaking of men—"

"Subtle," murmured Hermione while taking a sip of her orange flavoured soft drink.

Her mother smiled. "You were writing that boy again, weren't you?"

Hermione shrugged, avoiding looking at her. "Maybe."

"Hermione, there's nothing to feel awkward about. And I understand that you haven't been dating for long, but know that if it goes along well, your father and I would love to meet him."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You told Dad?"

"Of course I did, we're married."

"Mum . . ."

Her mother held her hands up. "We trust you, dear, that's all I wanted to say."

"Thank you," said Hermione, her shoulders dropping as she relaxed. It meant a lot to her to have her parents put so much faith in her. It can't have been easy for them the last couple of weeks. Their daughter had gone from having a perfect attendance record and being almost friendless, to skipping out on school twice in a month and regularly meeting with Katie and Ginny, _and_ seeing a boy. And though they'd given her grief for the stunt she pulled against Umbridge, they'd let that particular matter go once Headmaster Dumbledore had assured them that there was no harm done, and that Hermione would face no repercussion beyond one afternoon of cleaning up the mess from the prank. Hermione had gladly accepted, relieved to find that the Headmaster appeared as happy about the prank on Umbridge as the rest of the school, including the staff. Mrs. McGonagall had even gone as far as to grant her a biscuit when she passed her office.

Fred had nearly fallen off his seat when Hermione told him that last part.

And Fred . . .

Hermione and Fred had taken time to discuss their problems after their kiss (and after finally being able to look at each other without blushing _too_ much). All was in the clear. He understood what had been going through her mind and she now knew what had been in his. All that was left now was the actual dating part, Hermione guessed.

She had never properly dated anyone before. Viktor had been her first real kiss, but they'd never gone beyond that. She was nervous, nervous of messing everything up again, but she had faith in Fred. She had faith in the fact that he wouldn't just drop her for something minor. It calmed her.

After the talk though, they'd barely had time together alone. He had his finals and she had hers. Today, school had ended for the summer, yet here Hermione was with her family and he with his. Luckily, everyone was meeting up for football this Saturday and she could see him again. Though she reckoned that might not be a real date . . . But then again, she didn't think she wanted one. Nor did she think Fred needed one either. Dates, Hermione felt, was a way for people who weren't certain they wanted to be together quite yet. A way to dip their toes in the water, so to speak. Hermione knew she liked Fred. And they'd already established quite firmly to be boyfriend and girlfriend ('To avoid future confusion' Fred had said, grinning). No, she shouldn't feel pressured to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. And honestly, she wouldn't mind spending time with Fred anywhere. He always managed to make her smile, so it didn't matter really where they went. This, of course didn't mean that she'd be opposed to going to the movies together or anything.

"You're going to age fast if you keep that up, missy," said Hermione's mother, gesturing to the frown on Hermione's face.

"I'm overthinking again," said Hermione.

"When aren't you?" asked a voice. Hermione turned and smiled as her father emerged from the house.

"And you know you're both to blame, don't you?" retorted Hermione, making her parents chuckle.

"Oh, we're quite the bunch, aren't we," remarked her father, dropping a kiss each on their foreheads before sitting down.

"Yeah," said Hermione absently, taking in the view of her family. She looked forward to Saturday, she really did, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't perfectly happy where she was right now.

Maybe someday . . . Fred could be joining her here as well.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, my daaaaaaarlingsssssss!**

 **First of all, I'm sorry it's been so long! School started and it kept me busy busy! Second, I LOVED SEEING YOU FREAK OUT OVER THE KISS I LOVE YOU ALL YOU SMOL CUTIE PATOOTIES!**

 **This chapter was mostly a little breathing pause, but we'll get back to the fluffy romance soon! I also thought it seemed logical to show her parents reactions to Hermione's recent behavior.**

 **Hope you're still enjoying and hugs!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	27. Chapter 27

Late Lunch, Chapter 27

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The football field Hermione and her friends were to play on was by the school, but that fact didn't bother anyone because apparently their love for a nice field outweighed their exhaustion for academics. As someone who had been the one people had turned to in their academic moments of despair during finals (and therefore seen them at their worst), Hermione officially concluded she'd never understand just how much football could mess with your brain.

With this in mind, she wasn't surprised to see a previously exhausted Harry bike her way with a smile.

"Hi!" he said cheerily and gave a look of confusion when Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Nothing," she told him, sighing, "Hello. How was _your_ barbeque?"

"Less chaotic than usual," said Harry, "Though I fear what that might mean for my birthday . . ."

"The universe does have a way of assuring there's balance in these things."

"In that case, I'd rather the universe minds its own business; it took weeks for Dad's eyebrows to grow back last year."

Hermione fought a smile. "Just hand over the barbeque duty to Remus this year," she suggested.

Harry shook his head. "You know I can't do that. Have you seen these grown men when they don't get what they want? So much pouting, Hermione, I don't think I can take it."

Hermione laughed and climbed onto her bike. "Speaking of pouting, perhaps we should get going."

As if having read her mind, Harry smirked. "Oh, I don't think Fred would be too distraught if you turned up late," he said.

Hermione blushed. "Shut up." Not looking back she kicked her bike forward and began pedaling, because despite what she might want to have Harry believe, she really didn't want to make Fred wait.

"So, have you noticed?" Harry asked, having had no difficulty catching up to her.

"Noticed what?"

Harry smiled. "It's been way more than a week."

"Oh," she said, "I suppose it has."

Harry shrugged, kind enough to ignore that Hermione was sporting pink cheeks again, "Although, I'm not sure when you guys agreed—"

"The day of the prank," Hermione answered. "We decided to be together on the day of the prank."

"So then it is more than a week. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Hermione mumbled. "You know, it's still strange to talk with you about this. We never spoke about Viktor, really."

"That's because I was at a stage where I still thought girls were scary. I wasn't interested in anything remotely related to romance."

"And you call yourself James Potter's son," Hermione teased, "And what do you mean? You're still terrified of girls, to my knowledge at least. You and Cho—"

"So, Miss Granger, was the 'Hallway Kiss' part of your diabolical plan or just happy accident?"

"It was entirely spontaneous," Hermione snapped, sensitive, as Harry well knew, to any questions regarding the kiss (which the school had even kindly named for them), having had to endure a similar, though much more aggressive questioning from Ginny and Katie. Harry was barely hiding his grin and though she knew he only wished to distract her from asking him stuff about Cho, she inwardly shrugged her stubbornness aside, letting her best friend be . . . for now. "I planned the prank, but I never thought . . . I just wanted things back to what they were."

Harry nodded. "Are you happy they didn't go entirely back?"

She smiled. "Yeah . . . I suppose I am."

They soon arrived at the football field. Once the green speck of land came into view, Hermione felt a flutter in her stomach. She realised she'd missed him, which was ridiculous, because she'd seen Fred two days ago. She sighed to herself, accepting that there was nothing to do about that now. She would simply have to get used to these feelings.

Though scouting the field for anything red, the first thing Hermione noticed was that among her group of friends who had already arrived, there was one she didn't know; an athletic-looking brown haired man who was talking to Katie.

"That's Oliver," said Harry, "Oliver Wood."

"The one at Uni?" Hermione asked. "What's he doing back?"

"From what I heard he's back for a few weeks to visit his parents," answered Harry. "Though I thought he wasn't supposed to be back until Thursday . . . Hey, Ron!"

The person closest to them—who had strangely escaped Hermione's notice— turned around and waved as they quickly approached. He waited and they stopped with their bikes right in front of him. "Hello, Harry. Hermione."

"Hi," they said in unison, putting their bikes down on the grass.

"Is Oliver joining us then?" asked Harry.

"Beats me, but I think so. Shame though, because we already had even teams." Ron frowned a little. "Maybe it won't make it too unfair to just have one team be six people and the other five."

"Well, if it's too much trouble I could just sit this one out," offered Hermione.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Ron, surprising her. "We should all get a chance to play."

"Yeah," said Harry, "and it's not like we're professionals, we're just playing for fun."

Hermione smiled. "That's what you say now, but when I miss the goal you'll be biting my head off."

"What's this I hear about skipping?"

Hermione and the others turned to see Fred approach. He was dressed casually, without the gear she knew he, as well as the others, usually had. They'd all decided to forgo proper attire and just show up in whatever durable clothes they had. Hermione didn't work out a lot, so she'd settled for an oversized t-shirt with a pair of yoga pants. Her hair was in a messy bun to keep it in place. She hadn't thought much of it but now that Fred arrived, his eyes traveling from her head to her toes, she couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious about her choice; should she have asked Harry or Ginny to lend her some real sports clothes? But then, the more she considered the way Fred looked at her, the more it didn't feel like he was judging her. Quite the opposite . . . He seemed to like the look.

Hermione's cheeks grew hot and it didn't help that Fred was now right in front of her.

"Hi, you," he said, and opened his arms to let Hermione in for a hug. Her cheeks burned even more but she stepped forward and granted him a quick embrace with one arm. He laughed. "Snogs me in front of the entire school but is now too shy to even give me a proper hug."

Shyness all gone with that, she slapped his chest. "Be grateful for what you get."

He laughed again, "Oh, trust me, I am. Hello, Harry!"

Harry smiled. "Hi, Fred."

Ron turned to him, speaking low, but still loud enough for Hermione and Fred to hear, "How are you so normal watching that?"

Harry shrugged. "My parents can be worse."

"So, what did you lot say about skipping? Who's skipping?"

Before Hermione could say anything Ron was answering. "Hermione says she'll sit out if we're too many."

Fred looked down to her. "That true? You know it won't make too much of a difference—"

"Because I'm awful?" Hermione taunted.

"Ah, don't you try, I'm clever enough to not comment on that one," said Fred. "No, but it's only one player more in one team, it should be fine."

"If you say so," said Hermione, and after a moment's thought added, "But don't come crying to me when your team loses."

Fred stared. "Are you saying that it'll lose because you're on it . . .?"

"No! I'm saying I'll kick your bum, Weasley!"

Fred gasped dramatically. "You won't even be in my team? The betrayal!"

"Can we get on with it?" said an exasperated Ron. "I think everyone's here now."

Sure enough, when they looked, they saw that thanks to a newly arrived Angelina and Alicia, they were in fact everyone.

"Well," said Fred, "let's see what you got."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hiya, people!**  
 **I would first like to start by apologizing for this update taking so long. School has been kicking my butt and it's been hard to settle down in front of the computer to get into the mood of this story. Anyway, I hope you know how much it means to me to read your kind reviews and I hope you liked this one.**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	28. Chapter 28

Late Lunch, Chapter 28

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Oh my god!" Hermione cried, panicking at the ball that had rolled into position right in front of her.

"Hermione, stop staring at it and shoot!"

"Right," she said to herself, making a note to also scold Lee later for stressing her out. She saw Katie run up to the goal, but Alicia was quick to notice and was now on her way to block her; Hermione'd never pass the ball in time. She didn't have much time to think either because the rest of other team was fast approaching.

Making a surely stupid decision, Hermione decided to run. She ran. She dribbled—poorly—but she dribbled. She could feel the others get surprised and she took advantage of the situation and lined herself up to kick the ball— not towards the goal, but to Oliver, who'd just got free from a tailing Angelina. She prayed and hoped for a safe travel and was not disappointed when the ball flew right into his waiting foot. Oliver immediately shot at the goal and the ball flew right by Ron's fingertips as he lunged a little too late, and hit the net.

Hermione's team roared.

"Not fair! We thought taking you out of your usual goalie position would make you stink!"

Oliver laughed good-naturedly. "Sorry to disappoint."

Ginny rolled her eyes and decided to join Alicia in sulking. "It really wasn't fair."

"I know," said Alicia, throwing an arm around the younger girl, but neither of them seemed that put out, but appeared instead to be moping for the sake of being dramatic.

"Hermione! You were great!" Katie cheered and attacked Hermione in a hug.

"You really were," agreed Harry, struggling to get the words out. He was extremely out of breath, which was understandable since he'd been going crazy from trying to get rid of the twins who'd stalked him when they realised Hermione had the ball. But he still produced a smile for her.

"Thank you," Hermione managed, still stunned by the result. She could hardly believe how well it had all turned out and she felt even more proud considering her otherwise lacking capability when it came to anything athletic.

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"That was a tough situation you had," said Oliver. "But you did very well."

"Er . . . Thanks, Oliver."

He smiled and Hermione blushed. Just as she started thinking about praising him on his goal, two arms circled her from behind. She shrieked.

"Fred Weasley! Put me down!"

"Not until you tell me your secrets, Granger!"

"What secrets—" Hermione started and let out an 'oof' when she was hastily released and her feet met the ground again. She turned and faced a beaming Fred, his eyes full with joy and pride. It made her chest swell.

"What secrets?" she repeated, weaker this time, looking up at him through her lashes.

Fred pushed a lock of hair out of her face, despite the fact that it was stuck there due to sweat. He didn't seem to mind and let his warm palm rest on her cheek. The corner of his lip pulled up and he gazed at her softly as he leaned in. "How you're so bloody brilliant."

The kiss that followed was nothing like the one in the hallway. It wasn't one of surprise or excitement. Not in the way it had been back then, at least. It was still butterflies, but they were gentler, and more forgiving on her stomach. But it was still _more_. She knew that it wouldn't be their last, and she knew that Fred really did want to kiss her and she knew that she really _really_ wanted to kiss him back. It was enthusiastic and it was incredible.

"Bloody hell . . . Harry, how are your parents worse than that?"

Harry laughed and Hermione and Fred parted, both of them smiling. They saw Ron looking at them with a nauseated expression, a water bottle in his hand, and Harry patting him on the back. "I'll just have to bring you to meet my parents so you can see for yourself, mate."

"Or, dear brother, you can always choose to look away," said George, walking by and snatching the bottle from Ron's hand. He took a big gulp and spoke with his mouth still partially filled with water, "Ai know ai do."

"Yeah, yeah," said Ron.

"He really needs to mind his own business, that brother of mine," said Fred, returning his attention to his girlfriend.

Hermione shrugged. "Or perhaps he just needs to grow up. I mean, we're only kissing."

Fred chuckled and it vibrated through to Hermione who was still at his side. "I'll pretend that didn't hurt."

"You know what I mean."

He kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, I do."

Hermione smiled and squeezed him a little closer as they walked together to get their water bottles.

After everyone were properly hydrated and ready for another game, Hermione stayed behind. She figured she'd quit while she was ahead and told the others as much. When they predictably attempted to convince her to play anyway, she explained her need to rest her feet and the matter was pretty much settled.

"You're really sure?" asked Katie for the umpteenth time.

"I'm fine," said Hermione, waving her off. "I don't have your stamina anyway."

Katie laughed. "Oh, you were doing pretty well, I'd say."

"More than well," argued Angelina kindly, tying her shoelace. "I'm surprised your boy let you off the hook so easily, though."

Hermione looked to where Fred was, guilty of thinking the same thing. Sure, she was happy he was so understanding, but he had almost been too cavalier about letting her stand on the sidelines, watching them . . . alone. She had anticipated a 'Come on, Granger, you can't abandon us now, can you?' or the like, but . . . nothing.

"Huh," said Katie then, interrupting Hermione's rapidly darkening thoughts. "Maybe he wasn't as okay with it as he let on."

Hermione's attention was on Fred again. And her jaw dropped.

Angelina laughed. "Those boys know how to play dirty."

Fred met Hermione's eyes and winked, his grin looking far too smug as he shed the rest of his t-shirt and tossed it to the ground. His message was clear:

 _Suffer._

And Hermione was big enough to admit that she was.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Fred is evil! Although, we all knew that haha**

 **Hello again, dear readers! Apparently, once you start writing, it's hard to stop! I had this in my brain all ready to go before I even knew what was happening! Hopefully the next chapter will be equally nice and wander into my brain place soon!**

 **I'm so glad so many are still reading and thank you for all of your lovely reviews! I'm happy this story makes you happy! In a world full of angsty fics, there should be some fluffy ones to help keep balance! So yeah, so happy to make you smile!**

 **Hope this one made you smile even more!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	29. Chapter 29

Late Lunch, Chapter 29

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

The last match ended in a mess.

After having seen what Fred had done by removing his shirt, George had done the same— claiming that his twin had the right idea— which of course led to Lee following, and a large part of the match was then spent on attempting to distract the girls in the opposing teams (and even the boys on one occasion). While Fred helped George and Lee get the water bottles that the latter two used to splash water on their bare upper bodies with, he didn't actually partake in the ridiculous display himself. Part of Hermione was glad because that meant he wasn't showing off to other girls, but even so, another was mortified because that meant he used that time smirking and winking at _her_ every chance he got.

Nevertheless, Fred's intentions didn't stop him and George and Lee from eventually feeling the wrath of the other players who had grown tired of them. There was a particularly disapproving vibe coming from Angelina the entire time and it came to no one's surprise when she convinced people to declare the teams 'everyone against the three idiots'.

The three idiots predictably lost.

Hermione stretched her legs as the whistle Oliver had brought sounded from his lips. She watched with a smile as Fred, George and Lee worked to detangle themselves from each other after having all jumped to defend the goal from Harry's lightning fast kick. The ball lay next to them, having bounced off the net and out again.

"Hermione, please pass me my water bottle, will you?"

Hermione reached into the bag next to her seat on the grass and found Ginny's water bottle just in time for the other girl to arrive and reach out for it.

"Thank you," she said and proceeded to empty what was left inside it. She gave a disgruntled noise. "It's so warm, I think I might die."

"Here, you can have what's left in mine," Hermione offered and was rewarded with a smile.

"All right! Listen up, everyone," said Harry suddenly, successfully drawing the attention of them all. "Ron and I've been talking and we're thinking it might be fun to keep this going! So hit the showers and then meet up at my place?"

The gang gave an approving round of applause and whoops.

"Excellent idea, Harry," said Fred, now wearing his shirt again, throwing an arm around him.

"Brilliant, truly," agreed George. "We are very grateful for your hospitality."

Ron scowled at them. "I came up with the idea too, you know."

"Yeah, but it's Harry's house," the twins chorused.

"Okay, since you lot don't live nearby," Lee addressed the Weasley's, "You can borrow my shower."

Ginny scrunched her nose in distaste. "No thanks, I'll join Hermione."

"Oh, really?" asked Lee, raising an eyebrow.

"Oy!" shouted the Fred, George and Ron.

"That's our sister, you sick bastard," said George, giving Lee a swat to the head.

"And my girlfriend," said Fred, adding another.

"All right, all right, it was only a joke!"

"We still have a lot to teach you about comedy, don't we, Fred?"

"It would appear so, George."

Lee rubbed his head, muttering about 'them Weasleys' not being able to take a joke.

The group began to disperse after that. Fred kissed Hermione on the cheek in goodbye and moved with more than half of the group to Lee's. Hermione, Ginny and Harry were the only ones going in the other direction.

"Guys, d'you mind if I join you?" asked Ron, breaking away from the others. "Lee's all right but it'll be very crowded."

"Sure, mate," Harry answered, "You can come with me. That's where we'll be for the evening anyway."

"Cheers," Ron answered and smiled. He turned and shouted to his brothers where he was going but it was obvious they were intentionally ignoring him.

"Honestly," Hermione muttered next to him. She handed over her bag to Ginny and began walking.

What followed next was a fascinating event for Ron to witness, as Hermione marched right up to his older brothers and somehow had them apologising to him in seconds. And what was even more fascinating was that Fred didn't seem to mind. In fact, the more Ron looked, the more it seemed her concern for Ron made Fred smile and watch Hermione with even more affection. Odd . . .

"Okay," said Hermione, getting back to them again, "shall we?"

Ron stared. "You're scary sometimes. Brilliant, but scary."

Hermione's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected, sort-of praise, but decided to accept it, "Thank you, Ronald."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ginny stopped the bike outside the Grangers' garage and Hermione immediately hopped off from the back. Her legs did sting a bit as she walked, a result from the earlier exercise at the football field, but it was also in part because of Ginny's crazy pedaling; Hermione had had to clutch on for dear life when the redhead decided to be the one to give the other a ride.

Leaving her bike outside the garage (figuring it was okay since they were due to leave in a short while anyway) Hermione went to help her friend move her rucksack to the door, but when Ginny didn't follow, Hermione turned around. "Ginny?"

Ginny shook her head, appearing to have been caught in a reverie of sorts. "Sorry, yeah. What's up?"

"'What's up'? What's up with you? Why were you—NO!" Hermione gaped, looking from Ginny to the house across the street.

Ginny winced. "It's not what it looks like."

But Hermione wasn't listening.

"I can't believe it," she hissed, sending worried glances at aforementioned house, "I told you! I told you not to get caught up in him! Blaise Zabini? Really?!"

"Hey!" Ginny shot back. "I haven't been caught up in anything." The girl then looked like she just remembered something and rethought her words. "Okay, there might have been some talk about a dinner."

"Ginny—"

"But nothing else! Honestly, Hermione, you're overreacting."

Hermione sighed. "Let's get these things upstairs? And we really should wash off." Ginny followed Hermione in, their steps the only sound in the house as Officer Granger and Mrs. Granger weren't home. At the stairs, Hermione asked, "Was this why you insisted coming with me instead of Katie?"

Ginny had been busy removing her shoes but stopped midway, her left shoelace still in half a bow. "Perhaps a little. I just thought I'd come here and see how I felt."

Hermione crossed her arms, but contrary to what Ginny might believe at this moment, it wasn't because she was angry. Rather, it was a defensive stance, due to being uncomfortable and new to these types of things. Girl talk . . . It was more Katie's thing, not Hermione's.

Hermione tried to imagine it was Harry for a while even, attempting to make it easier but it backfired quickly. An image of a Harry that fancied Blaise was more than she could take. She cleared her throat, "Do you like him?"

Ginny looked surprised, but gave small smile. "Yeah, I kind of do. I mean, he's a prat, but he's . . . interesting."

Hermione sighed again and nodded. "Fine, but if your dead body ends up buried in their backyard, don't say I didn't warn you."

Ginny laughed. "I'll make sure my ghost tells the police you had nothing to do with it."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I'm so showering here again," said Ginny, emerging dressed in the spare clothes she'd brought beforehand and drying her hair off with a towel. "The water's actually warm and there aren't any signs of a boy ever having been in there."

Hermione, who had been in the middle of taking her change of clothes out of her drawer, blushed and felt strangely insulted. "Well . . ."

Ginny waved her off. "You know I have brothers, get your mind out of the gutter, Granger."

Hermione's cheeks remained red and the whole time she was in the shower she couldn't help but let her mind wander to that place. She hadn't given it much thought, but it made sense. Eventually she would have to . . . with Fred.

 _Oh my god_ , she scolded herself, _if you can't even think the word 'sex' you definitely shouldn't be having it._

And that was the thing, Hermione didn't think she was ready. Not yet, anyway. She cared for Fred, she really did, but they'd only been a couple for a few weeks. Sure, to some that was enough but for her it wasn't, especially since she'd never done it before.

As it turned out, thinking about this made her mind spiral down a long and dark path and she had to put her thinking to an abrupt halt once she considered whether or not Fred would leave her once they'd slept together; the saying 'men are only after one thing' ringing in her head.

"You don't look too good," said Ginny when they arrived at Harry's, "And you've been awfully quiet the whole way here. What's wrong?"

Hermione followed Ginny to the door but didn't knock. "Just something that occurred to me and I'm overthinking it."

"It isn't still about me and Blaise, is it?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, it's not about that. It's . . . it's got to do with your brother."

Ginny's brown eyes narrowed and watched her uncomprehendingly. "Okay . . . ?"

The hot cheeks from before made their comeback and Hermione felt as if she was making a performance consisting of a red face, glancing around like a suspicious lunatic and biting her lip. No, she couldn't talk to Ginny about this.

"Has he always had all of those freckles on his shoulders?" she blurted, at a loss of what else to say. It hadn't been much better, but it still topped 'hey, I'm worried having sex with your brother too soon might make him leave me'.

However, judging by Ginny's reaction, she might as well have said it. "Bloody—Seriously, Hermione?! Have you been thinking about my half-naked brother this whole time? And why would you ask me—No! You know what, no! These are the things you'll have to talk to Katie about! Even I have limits."

Hermione couldn't help but let out a sound caught between a laugh and a nervous chuckle. "Sounds fair enough."

They turned to knock on Harry's door, with Ginny shuddering one last time and mumbling things akin to 'why even say it' and 'ew'.

The rest of the evening resembled their time together earlier that day; the twins and Lee stood for the entertainment, with the rest of them laughing or rolling their eyes at them. Hermione had a surprisingly good time sitting in a corner with Harry and Ron, not minding much to abstain being in the spotlight.

There came a time when her boyfriend wanted to join her and it happened when Hermione had stepped out to get some fresh air. She had been sitting on the steps leading down from the porch facing the woods, listening to the faint blast of music and ruckus occurring inside the house behind her, when the back door opened.

"I was wondering where you were hiding," he said, a smile playing on his lips.

"Not hiding," Hermione answered, making room for him to sit next to her. It was ridiculous how she could feel tingles in her stomach just feeling his leg brush against hers. "I was . . . thinking."

"Do you ever do anything but?" Fred asked, but there was fondness there and not annoyance as she'd grown accustomed to expect from people. She didn't answer him this time, but she knew he didn't expect her to, and so they sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Actually," Fred started, "I had something on my mind too."

"Oh?" Hermione shifted to look at him and once she did, she spotted the red ears, the fidgeting hand on his neck . . . Fred was nervous.

"There's this thing I've been meaning to ask you and I understand if you don't want to, that's fine. But I do think we'd have a great time. Blimey, even before we got together I wanted to ask you to do it with me."

Hermione stared at him perplexed. "Fred, what on earth—"

"D'you want to be my date for my brother's wedding?" Fred's words were a bit rushed and he had to wait while Hermione caught up. Once he saw she had, he continued, a bit slower this time, "My oldest brother Bill is getting married later this summer and I thought you might like to come. With me, that is. To the wedding."

The pause Hermione took made her boyfriend wonder at what was going on in her head, but if he'd known he would have realised there was no reason to worry. Quite the contrary, Fred had made quite well for himself. Hermione took her time, relishing in the facts her mind now had to present; if Fred being more nervous than she'd ever seen him be wasn't enough to convince her, then him asking her to be his date to a wedding—a wedding where his whole family would be present— certainly did assure her that he wouldn't leave her for sleeping or not sleeping with him. There was also the fact that he'd mentioned wanting to bring her even before they were together . . .

"I would be honoured," she said, her lips stretching into a wide smile, and she even leaned in to press them briefly to his.

"Thank Merlin for that," said Fred, his eyes opening slowly to gaze back at her after the kiss.

Hermione giggled. "Merlin?"

Fred shrugged, grinning, and regained his confidence, "What else would it be for me to have Hermione Granger be my date, if not magic?"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Bill and Fleur will have a wedding! And Hermione will be Fred's date! Yay! So more Weasley family members are scheduled to appear!**  
 **Next chapter, however, will be a tiny time-skip to Harry's birthday! And I think you know who you'll see there *wink wink* (they start with an 'm' and end with 'arauders')**

 **Also: HOLY FUDGE ON A CRACKER! 400 REVIEWS? WE PASSED 400 EVERYONE! THAT'S AMAZING! THANK YOU SO MUCH!**  
 **special thanks to the lovely a-sleepingdragon for being number 400. Please go check her stories out, they're Fremione and oh so lovely!**

 **Hope you're all doing well!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	30. Chapter 30

Late Lunch, Chapter 30

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

" _D'you want to be my date for my brother's wedding?"_

Hermione smiled, remembering the night Fred had asked her the question while sitting on the steps to the Potters' porch, the very same steps visible to her now that she attended Harry's birthday party. The bustle of the preparations (James was still figuring out how to light the grill without losing his eyebrows again) went unnoticed by her as she reminisced on all that had happened since that fateful eve. Her parents had got to meet Fred two weeks after, and though stunned by finding out who the mystery boyfriend of his daughter was, her father had done well in hiding his shock and slight skepticism of her choice to date a trouble maker. Hermione's mother had found the story of how they met adorable. All in all, Fred and her parents had turned out to get along quite well, and with the exception of Fred's 'Pleasure to meet you again, sir', reminding Hermione's father when, where and how the two of them had first come to meet (an action which had made Hermione groan inwardly), their impression of Fred was that he was a clever and funny boy. One whom nowadays was always welcome for dinner.

Speaking of dinner . . .

"James, would you and Sirius please let me show you how to use the damn thing properly?"

Remus had been patient so far, but his friends' incompetence were proving far too much to ignore. The social studies teacher rose from the table and made to approach his friends when they made warning noises.

"Oy, hey, no!"

"Don't come any closer, mate, we've got this," said Sirius.

"Clearly," Remus drawled.

"We knew how to work it a couple of weeks ago!" argued James.

"That's because Lily secretly lit it when you weren't looking," sighed Remus. "Sorry, Lily."

Through the door arrived Lily, her arms full of soft drinks. "Really, Remus?!"

James inhaled sharply. "Wife . . . how could you!"

Lily set the bottles aside and crossed her arms, sending a pointed look towards her husband. "Because you two rich boys know nothing about manual labor!"

"We know manual labor," said Sirius, chewing on a carrot stick. "We have jobs."

"You know that's not the same as what I'm saying," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "Hermione, would you mind popping in and help Dora with the rest of the things?"

Hermione nodded eagerly, smiling as she always did when watching Harry's family. Well inside she spotted Dora balancing Teddy on one arm, and carrying a bag of bread in the other, while also attempting to lift a tray of biscuits. Take all of those facts and put them together with Dora's clumsiness and you had a recipe for disaster. Hermione hurried to her friend's side.

"Teddy!" Hermione said, bringing her arms out, "why don't you come here to auntie Hermione for a while? There we go."

Dora smiled. "Thanks, 'Mione. I keep forgetting that babies are fragile little things."

"No problem," Hermione said, cradling little Teddy Lupin in her arms. "You can always ask for help, you know."

Dora waved her off. "I'm a police officer, I fight crimes daily, I think I can handle carrying a few things."

"Right."

"Oh, don't you start," Dora laughed. "I get enough of that from Remus. He's quite the worrier, you know. You'd think he'd have more faith in me, but alas—"

"Dora, I've seen you trip over air," Hermione giggled. "And you drop things constantly. I think Remus has cause to worry." She looked at the little boy in her arms, the affection for him spreading like warmth inside her chest and out to her fingertips. "But you've done a good job with this one, no one can deny that."

Dora grinned. "Yeah, I have, haven't I?"

"Ladies!" James popped his head in. "We're all ready to go! C'mon!"

Hermione and Dora exchanged amused glances and headed outside, Teddy still sleeping in Hermione's arms. While Dora sat herself down on Remus' lap (which still managed to make the man blush profusely), Hermione took a seat as far away from the grill as she possibly could, taking every precaution to ensure both her and the baby came away from this experience without any major injuries.

Just as James was about to make his speech, with his hands already clasped together eagerly, there was the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway and people getting out. "Lils?"

"They're early!" said Lily, her eyes growing wide. "I didn't think they'd be here until the celebration tonight!"

"Doesn't the drive from London take ages?" asked James.

"That's what I thought!"

"Well, don't just stand there!" said Sirius, "Go let them in!"

The rest waited as James and Lily hurried to the door to greet the newly arrived guests, Harry walking calmly after them and shaking his head.

The rise in noise level had Teddy fussing slightly, and Hermione cooed and rocked him gently.

"Blimey!" said a voice above her. "I'm gone a couple of months and you get a baby?"

Hermione looked up and smiled broad and wide at the sound of the other person. "Neville!"

Neville grinned back. "Hello, Hermione. Seriously, though, who's the little fellow?"

"That'd be Teddy Lupin," answered Hermione, standing up and handing Teddy back to his parents so she could great her old friend. "It's so good to see you!"

"Good to see you too." Neville hugged her back and when she stepped away he looked to the others. "Hello, everyone. Remus, Tonks, congratulations on the baby."

"Thank you, Neville," smiled Remus, while his wife adjusted Teddy in her arms. "Hope you've been settling in well in London."

"Oh, it's all right. Nothing like home, but it's okay."

"Well, we've missed you, kid," said Sirius, throwing an arm around Neville and ruffling his hair. "Where's Frank and Alice?"

"They're—they're inside talking to James and Lily." He threw a desperate look to Hermione who sighed.

"Neville, let's go back inside, I haven't seen your parents in ages."

Neville mouthed 'thank you' to her when Sirius relinquished his grip on him, and corrected his hair as close as possible to what it had been before.

"I see you've met Sirius," said Alice's soft voice when they arrived in the hallway. Her round cheeks were dimpled as she smiled at them. She reached forward to tug a bit at her son's locks.

"Mum," said Neville, clearly embarrassed. His gaze darted quickly to Hermione who stood next to him, doing nothing to hide her grin.

"Is that why Harry's hair is always such a mess?" she asked.

"I'm afraid genetics' to blame for that one, Hermione," sighed Lily. "One of the few things Sirius Black isn't responsible for."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked James.

"Oh, nothing, dear. Just that sometimes it felt like it was the two of _you_ raising Harry and not you and I."

James frowned, which did nothing but make his wife laugh, and as a result, make him beam at her adoringly.

"I see not much has changed," said Frank. "But perhaps to the reason why we're here . . ." He turned to Harry and presented a square shaped package wrapped in floral patterned paper. "Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry accepted his gift and smiled broadly. "Thanks, Uncle Frank. Thank you." He hurried to give the Longbottoms a hug each.

"Right, let's finally get this party started, shall we?" said James. "We wouldn't want the food to get cold!"

"Speaking of which," Hermione began while they started walking. "Who's watching the grill?"

James smile froze as he paled, and then ran out to the porch screaming: "SIRIUS!"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, this is ridiculous, I've not been able to put this story to rest. I'm sure that you all are happy about this, but I actually have other things to write hahaha! Actually, I'm quite happy about it too, this story is a delight to write (everyone's aliiiiiveeeeee).**

 **Anyway, I just want to thank you so much for your reviews on the last update, and I hope you're not sick of the story yet :P**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	31. Chapter 31

Late Lunch, Chapter 31

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione had just left her parents to the care of Remus and Lily—Dora and James busy wreaking havoc—when she spotted a figure huddled in the dark behind a couple of bushes on the side of the house.

Recognising the figure, she sighed. "There you are. Why are you hiding—"

Sirius brought a finger to his lips and motioned for her to join him. Sensing there was a reason for his behavior and curious to find what it was, Hermione reluctantly agreed.

She settled on a relatively clean spot, grateful she was wearing shorts and not a dress. Looking around she could see why someone might sit here; the place was out of the way, yet had a view of both the backyard and the driveway.

"So who are you hiding from?" Hermione asked and took a sip of her orange flavoured soft drink.

Just as Sirius was about to answer, Hermione heard someone in the backyard loudly exclaim "Lily!" followed by an even louder "ALICE!" from the same person.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Marlene and you broken up again?"

Sirius shrugged. "Something like that, yeah."

Hermione nodded, never sure what to say when it came to those two, and took another sip of her drink with Sirius mimicking her with his bottle of beer. He then looked down at the ground, giving off the impression of a pouting dog, and the sight made Hermione want to snap the man out of it. Her need to scold took over—as it was prone to do—and she sighed. "I'm sorry, but what on earth is it this time?"

Sirius' back straightened, alerted by the sternness in her voice. He fiddled with the sticker on his beer, tearing it at the edges, and not meeting her eyes.

"Is it about not wanting to settle down, again?" Hermione asked, this time softer.

To her surprise, Sirius actually responded by shaking his head. "Or, I mean, in a sense, it is. But mostly no."

Hermione waited.

He sighed. "It's not about _not_ settling down, and more about . . .settling. James and Lily got married young and I never worried, but now Remus has got a family too, and I just don't—I don't want to be . . . Lately, I've been starting to feel a bit left behind."

Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. "They love you. We all do."

Sirius chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, couldn't get rid of you even if I tried."

Hermione readjusted her hair but did nothing else, knowing that he'd needed that. "Harry's your son, Sirius. James is your brother and Lily is your sister. Even my parents adore you. You have family, and I know you don't like to talk about it, but . . . we'd never leave you behind or mistreat the way _they_ did."

Sirius tensed, and Hermione didn't dare move until she felt his breathing return to normal and his shoulders slump back down.

"I know," he said. "I know the you all wouldn't leave me behind, but . . .I think I might want a bit of what they have for myself. And especially this time of year, I can't help but want to do something about it before it's too late."

This time, Hermione stiffened. It was rare that anyone in Harry's family, or even her own family, talked about what had happened. How Lily had faced off someone they'd all thought had been their friend, and that the car accident after the kidnapping attempt that resulted, was responsible for Lily losing the ability to have more children. To make matters even worse, it had happened days after Harry's birthday, making the boy blame himself despite having only been four years old at the time.

But someone who blamed himself even more was Sirius. He had been the one to tell Pettigrew where the two of them had been, after all.

Hermione sat up straight again, watching Sirius with a worried look. He was gritting his teeth.

"I should have known he was a dirty cop," he said, his words barely audible, "I should have known."

Hermione frowned. "No one knew, and no one could have anticipated that he'd try to use Lily and Harry as leverage against James, either."

"Still . . ."

Wanting to distract him, Hermione returned to what he'd been alluding to before, clearing her throat, "So, you've spoken to Marlene about wanting to settle down and she didn't take it well? And that's why you're avoiding her?"

Sirius blinked and his expression thankfully changed from its murderous hue into something a bit gloomy, and while not a major improvement, it was still an improvement. His eyebrows pulled together as he spoke in a contemplative tone, "I think she wants it too, think she's wanted to for a while, but we've been doing this song and dance for years, and it's _worked_. That's the strangest part of it, that it's worked. But I . . ." He stopped and looked down at Hermione who wondered why he'd stopped talking.

Sirius grinned reproachfully. "You almost had me there, Herms, but I'm afraid I'll have to chase you off now. You might be too young to hear this."

She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I know plenty of what you and Harry's father were up to at my age, so don't even try. Your drama with Marlene is the least traumatic thing I've had to endure hearing about."

He smiled. "Let me be a responsible adult for once, and not have me unload all of my troubles on you, all right?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine. But you'll have to speak to Harry today, because I was looking for him before and couldn't find him. I'm scared he's doing some wallowing in self-pity himself."

"Will do." Sirius smiled, and then let out a chuckle. "I never mentioned anything about self-pity."

Hermione shrugged.

He shot her a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think it was possible, but your Weasley friend has made you even cheekier."

Hermione blushed. "Fred encourages me to speak my mind." She let out a tilt of her head and shrugged again. "Not that I had a problem with that before . . ."

Sirius barked a laugh.

"What was that?" a voice asked from the driveway.

Sirius and Hermione instantly fell silent.

"Not sure," answered another, which the two of them quickly identified as Harry's.

"Sounded like a dog . . ."

Hermione mouthed 'oh my god' to Sirius, to which he replied with a confused look. She tugged at his sleeve and brought out her phone from her pocket, silently typing a name:

Cho Chang.

The grin growing on Harry's godfather's face was too knowing and Hermione had to prevent herself from groaning. Of course Harry and Cho had been seeing each other! It explained Harry's interest in fixing Hermione's love-life, and it certainly explained Cho's extremely good mood the last weeks of school. But how come Harry hadn't told Hermione about it?

When Sirius' grin shifted from knowing to smug, Hermione had to restrain herself from telling him to bugger off.

" . . .it's nothing special, just something for your birthday," Cho was saying now, sounding shy.

"No, it's great, thank you," said Harry, sounding flustered. But in a good way. "You sure you don't want to come inside?"

"No, you should be with your family, and I need to be home soon anyway. I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday in person." There was a pause, and Hermione peeked her head forward only to retract quickly when she saw her best friend kissing the girl. She had her hands in her face while she heard Sirius snigger quietly.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Cho said again, now appearing to leave, as the two teenagers bade each other goodbye, the sound of a bicycle riding off heard shortly thereafter. This was followed by a door closing as Harry went back inside, no doubt wanting to open his gift away from prying eyes. Or ears.

"Blimey, I suppose we don't have to worry about Harry then," said Sirius, almost beaming with pride. Hermione knew there was relief there too, however, because she felt it as well.

"I guess not," she smiled.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello again, my dear readers! Sorry for the long wait! School has been busy busy! And I needed a break during the holidays hehe.**

 **Anway, not much Fremione in here, but it was Harry's birthday so Harry and Sirius were the focus! I wanted to show some backstory as well, explaining why Peter wasn't with the Marauders and co. And also show that while Harry is Hermione's best friend, she doesn't have to worry about him constantly as I imagine she had to do in canon. Harry will be fine and he will be happy.**

 **But I am sorry for this kinda gloomy chapter, despite its ending. Next chapter will feature a trip to the Burrow though! So fear not, Fred will be back and things will be happy again!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	32. Chapter 32

Late Lunch, Chapter 32

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"No, I'm dying, I can't."

Not for the first time that afternoon, Ginny moaned and groaned about the scorching sun outside. Not a breeze was to be had either, which made the whole situation a whole lot harder to deal with, especially when a certain redhead _refused to keep quiet_ and had to remind everyone that they were, in fact, dying.

"I swear, Gin, if you don't let up about the damn weather I'm going to . . ." Katie started, lying sprawled out on the living room floor. She searched for what to say, waving her hand lazily in the air, but let it fall when her mind came up blank. "You know what? I can barely move, it's not worth it."

"Could I have some more water, please, Fred?" Hermione asked her boyfriend, who was busy trying to fix one of the broken fans belonging to the Weasley household.

Fred looked her way, a small apologetic smile accompanying the move. "'Course. Be right back." He took hold of her fingertips as he passed, brief but affectionate, and Hermione let out a small involuntary whine when he let go and made his way toward the kitchen.

Any other day she might have cared that he and the others heard, but as of now, it was just too bloody warm.

"Shut up," she still told them, because while she didn't care, she didn't want them to think it was okay to tease her. And though Hermione's eyes were closed, she could feel Katie smirk next to her (despite the fact that the other girl was on the floor while Hermione was positioned higher up, on the sofa) and that was not okay.

"I didn't say anything," Katie answered. "George, did you hear me say anything?"

"Not a peep," George confirmed, taking over from where his brother had left off. "Though I think I heard Fred's ego pump a fist in the air in victory."

"Har-har," Hermione said, blushing.

 _Just what I need,_ she thought _, my face being warmer. . ._

She sighed. The reason Hermione and Katie had ventured to the Weasley's in the first place hadn't been to sweat through their clothes but rather the exact opposite. The Burrows large pond with it's cool water and secluded position (unlike the very overcrowded bathing places closer to home) had beckoned them out of the hot city area and onto the countryside. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had, after all, on several occasions made it clear that both girls were welcome to stop by whenever they wanted over the summer. Hermione, so far, had taken the liberty to do so more than once and whereas her first visit to the Burrow had been relatively formal, her other visits had been very casual. She'd felt comfortable enough to ring up Ginny and tell her that both her and Katie were on their way that morning, and that they expected to take a very refreshing swim. Ginny had laughed and told her to come right on over.

Unfortunately, just as heaven had been in sight, there had emerged an unexpected problem with the oldest Weasley child, Bill's, wedding. Him and his fiancée needed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to assist them for a couple of hours, and since the latter two were rather adamant about not letting the children swim without adults at home (something that had to do with Charlie almost drowning once when he was practicing looking for sharks) there was not going to be any watery fun to be had for at least . . . another hour.

"You know," said Fred, arriving from the kitchen with a newly refilled pitcher. "Mum and Dad are so concerned with our well-being, but did it ever occur to them that we could just as well die from dehydration?"

"They are selfish all right," said George.

"I don't care, I hate everyone at the moment," grunted Ginny.

"You always hate everyone," remarked Katie.

"I hate everyone _more_ today."

"I hate Harry," said Hermione, not noticing that the others' eyes widened at that. She continued, "He's off with his parents to Remus' cottage. Did you know there's a lake right nearby? He's probably been swimming in it for days now."

"Lucky bastard," growled Ginny. "How come you didn't go with him? You two are usually attached at the hip."

"Well, obviously, Hermione preferers hanging with our lot, don't she?" George winked.

"Obviously," Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled, trying desperately to not look Fred's way.

Fred, however, was not fooled and couldn't help the grin that bloomed across his face. He set the pitcher down after having poured some water into his girlfriend's glass and motioned for her to move her head so he could sit himself down.

"What are you doing?" she stuttered, growing red as Fred sat down but didn't let her shift into an upright position.

"You're resting your head in my lap, of course," explained Fred, sounding as if he was confused by her behavior. He put his palm against her forehead and nodded grimly. "As I thought, you need to lie down."

"Fred—"

"Ah!" he warned, holding a finger up and grabbed one of the magazines from the pile on the living room table and used it to fan her face with, all while the others looked on, amused. "There we go, all better."

"But I . . ." Hermione started, but was silenced by a particularly powerful gust of wind produced by Fred's vigorous fanning. It did feel nice, but Hermione wasn't sure if he was spoiling her or if he was teasing her. The line was—as she'd gathered from their time together— very thin with Fred Weasley.

"Wow, Fred," said Katie, "that's some impressive strength you've got there. Lot of practice with your right arm, have you?" Katie had to duck as Fred grabbed a pillow from the sofa and chucked it at her.

"Don't make me regret inviting you to my home, Bell." While Katie cackled away on the floor, Fred turned to look at Hermione. To his surprise, she was smirking.

Hermione raised a hand to his face. "Oh, dear. I'm afraid we'll have to switch now."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It thankfully took less than an hour for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to return, and having been gone for a total of three hours they were extremely apologetic and had brought ice cream for all the teenagers.

"Can I eat while taking a swim?" asked George, already bounding up the stairs.

"Fre-I mean, George," said Mrs. Weasley. "I really would prefer it if you didn't. But you can all go to the edge of the pond and I'll prepare a picnic basket for you there."

"Cheers, Mum!"

Hermione was the last one to the stairs, adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder, when Mrs. Wealsey stopped her. "Thank you, Hermione," she said, "for keeping an eye on the others. I'm sure the twins were at least considering going to take a swim in spite of my instructions."

Hermione blinked. "Oh, the twins never once mentioned anything about going against what you said. In fact, they've been attempting to bring one of your old fans back to life, as a substitute."

Mrs. Weasley looked on in surprise, her eyebrows rising up her forhead. "Did they really? Well that's . . .wonderful, I suppose." The woman let a bit of shame show and Hermione discovered a part of her liked it. Not liked it like she enjoyed the woman's pain, but rather . . .she felt it was about time her boyfriend's mother realised how brilliant the twins were. And that just because they managed a bit of mischief once in a while, it didn't mean they were bad people.

"Hermione, hurry up," said Ginny as soon as Hermione entered her bedroom. The girl was wearing a sporty bikini, all black and practical, but still managed to look fashionable. "Katie's in the bathroom changing at the moment, but you'll be up in a sec and—what the bloody hell is _that_?"

"What?" Hermione asked, following Ginny's stare. "This? This is my bathing suit."

Ginny walked up to Hermione, grabbed hold of her shoulders, and squeezed. "Why on earth do you own a bathing suit?"

"Because I like to swim sometimes? I'm afraid I don't understand the question."

Ginny took a deep, steadying breath, bracing herself. "I mean, why do you own a bathing suit if you're over the age of twelve?"

Understanding her friend, Hermione scowled. "I don't like bikinis, I feel exposed."

"'Mione, 'Mione, 'Mione . . ."

"You've inherited your brothers' fondness of dramatics—"

Ginny ignored her. "The whole point is to show some skin."

"Says who?"

"Gandhi. Now, hush, and we'll try to fix this. Katie?"

"Here," said Katie, arriving fully changed. Much like Ginny she was wearing a two-piece, though hers was more filled out, being older and all. She set aside her pile of clothes and turned to her friends. "What's the matter—oh dear god, Hermione! You're not wearing that, are you?"

"For heaven's sake, it's not a body bag!"

Katie tugged a little at the bathing suit. "Could have fooled me. This looks ancient. Do the Granger's abhor showing ankles?"

"Very funny," Hermione muttered.

"Kates, have you got that extra bikini with you?" asked Ginny.

"Sure! D'you mind borrowing it, Hermione? It's brand new, don't worry, I got both of them a week ago."

"I'm not sure it'll fit." Hermione's gaze drifted downward to Katie's chest.

"No problem, I got this one in a smaller size," said Katie, handing over the bikini. It was black like Ginny's, but instead of the sporty look, it was—for a lack of a better word—sexy. Much too sexy for her to wear in public. And—and was that . . .? She looked closer at the tag and gaped.

"Is this my size?" she asked. "Did you two already buy this in advance?"

"Busted," Katie sighed.

"We're doing you a favor, 'Mione," said Ginny. "Now go put it on!"

Realising that objecting was futile, Hermione let herself be pushed and shoved by her friends to the bathroom. The three of them knew, however, that if she'd really disliked the idea she would have made it more known, and most likely retaliated with something more severe than purchasing a bikini against her friends' wills. Instead, Hermione stood in the bathroom taking in her appearance, and she had to admit the bikini did her a lot more favors than her regular bathing suit did.

 _Bugger, they'll never let this go if they see that I like the bloody thing . . ._

A warm feeling spread along her body though, appreciating the gesture very much. No one had ever done something like that for her before. And even if someone would have . . .Hermione thought it might have put a damper on things to find out Harry had picked out a bikini for her.

Letting out a tiny chuckle, she covered herself in her towel and went outside to her friends.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It didn't take long for Fred to change, impatient to dive into the cooling water as he was, and as he swung his towel over his shoulder he couldn't help but think it was a shame his youngest brother wasn't there with them. Sure, it was mostly because Fred enjoyed scaring Ron with the plastic spiders he always had on hand (never underestimate the fear people have of finding something crawling on their legs when they're lying in the sun with their eyes closed), but also because he felt bad for Ron. The life of a chess prodigy was rough and apparently their people met up even during the summer.

"Freddie, c'mon, let's hurry up!"

George's voice pulled Fred out of the room and down the stairs, but no farther. "Gonna wait for Hermione, but you go ahead."

His twin brother, whose face was like his own in so many ways, made a grimace that Fred hoped he'd never have to see ever again. "The pond is in our yard," he said.

"So?"

"So I think she'll be fine."

To his great reluctance, Fred could feel his neck begin to burn. Without another word, he walked out the door, across the yard full of old garden gnomes, and up to the edge of the pond.

George was right, he knew that. Of course Hermione could take care of herself, it was one of the things Fred liked about her. But in addition to admiring that quality in his girlfriend, he liked taking care of her. He enjoyed doing small gestures that made her smile, or blush, or stutter. Half of time they weren't even consciously made, so even if he wished to stop, he wouldn't able to. And now, when Hermione was finally trusting to fall back against him a little— even if it was such a small thing as asking him to get her some water— he couldn't just stop.

Though, he supposed, it wouldn't be the end of the world to let her walk from one part of the yard to another.

"I hope you don't think I don't like Hermione," George said, setting down the picnic basket their mother had prepared. "I'm just not used to seeing you like this. All the knight in shining armour business is cute on occasion, but no need to overdo it."

Fred sighed. "You're probably right."

"I know I am." George put his hands on his hips, changing the subject, "This'll do. What do you say, should we jump in or wait for the others?"

George caught his brother's gaze, and the twins exchanged wicked grins, "Nah."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Hold your head high, you look gorgeous." Katie rubbed a hand against Hermione's arm, which was probably meant to be reassuring, but all it did was remind Hermione that underneath her towel, she was almost naked.

"If you want, I could cause a distraction," said Ginny. "Does anyone have nitroglycerin?"

"What on earth would you need that for?" Hermione asked, though already suspecting what the answer would be.

Predictably, Ginny made a big explosion sound and gestured what it would look like with her arms.

"That _would_ cause a distraction," said Katie, nodding thoughtfully.

"You are both ridiculous."

The three girls continued down, one with an exasperated, yet fond, shake of her head, and the other two with giggles, until they spotted the pond.

"Oh, look, they're already at it," said Katie, "I suppose that's good, it'll tire them out."

Hermione found herself walking a bit slower, trying to discern which of the twins was hers. It was a bit embarrassing, and she did feel a bit ashamed that she at times had difficulty spotting who Fred was. Shouldn't she be able to know who was at a mere glimpse by now? She was his girlfriend and had been for nearly two months, for heaven's sake. But with both of their backs turned and constantly on the move, Fred and George were making it impossible for Hermione to tell them apart.

Thank god for Ginny.

"Oy! We're here!" the little redhead shouted, making her brother's turn around. One of them looked up and smiled, while the other rose up out of the water, making his chest visible with its freckled, muscled planes and drops running down, down . . .Hermione gulped, realising he'd spotted her staring, and the smug grin that followed reminded her of the day on the football field all those weeks ago.

 _Well, two can play at that game_ , she thought, and without much ceremony, let the towel fall to the ground.

And the result was immediate.

Fred's jaw dropped and all his smugness from before evaporated into thin air. He looked her up and down and swallowed hard, and Hermione had to bite her lip to stop from laughing, because he looked absolutely ridiculous.

But when initial shock subsided, Fred's look grew more and more heated and it sent a tingling feeling through Hermione's body, a tingling that was all too familiar now, however usually reserved for when their kissing took on a more intense direction. They always stopped before it got too far, but lately she found herself wondering what it would be like to continue. Was this how he would look at her?

Feeling her body flush, she ventured into the water, needing to cool down. Fred seemed to have shaken himself out of his trance, and was down in the water again as well. With the lower part of his face submerged, his eyes met Hermione's and she met his, both in silence.

George cleared his throat awkwardly. "So . . .anyone up for a game of water polo?"

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Nothing like using partial nudity to shut someone up, amiright? No, but it seems Hermione's attempt at vengeance for the football field backfired and now she's considering taking the next step with Fred, whaaaaaat**

 **The next few chapters will introduce some more Weasleys and there's gonna be more Burrowness as the wedding of Bill and Fleur approaches! Suuuper exciting stuff!**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**  
 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	33. Chapter 33

Late Lunch, Chapter 33

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Katie made herself comfortable on the patio chair, her curious eyes on Hermione as the latter sat down next to her. The sun was up and shone brightly, though not able to reach the girls or their scoops of ice cream as they stayed beneath the Bell family's green parasol.

Katie had a spoon of chocolate ice cream and gestured impatiently with it at Hermione, "So?"

Hermione set aside her bowl on the table and pulled out her phone and showed Katie the picture she'd taken of Bill and Fleur. The spoon fell with a clang into her bowl and Katie's eyes widened.

She reached for the phone, holding it in disbelief, "How-how is this even possible?"

"I know."

"They're both . . . I mean . . .how has the world not imploded on itself with these two at the same place, not mention in the same relationship?"

"That's not all," Hermione said, "I know you've met Percy before, but here's a picture of Charlie . . ."

"What?!"

There was silence as the blonde processed what she'd just been witness to, much like Hermione had predicted she would. Though not considering herself to be a vain person, Hermione had to admit that her boyfriend's older brothers were quite good looking, and that they'd managed to make her blush on several occasions. Even Percy, whom she'd heard was as dull as a brick and half as charming, had produced a heat to her cheeks when asking her in earnest about her passion for human rights. She wasn't proud of it . . .

"Are you done now?" asked Hermione, making Katie snap back to reality.

"Yeah, yeah . . .It's just, you know, you see their childhood pictures in passing at the Burrow and then . . .Crikey." She handed Hermione back her phone and resumed working on her dessert. "How are they in person, though? And wasn't it terrifying meeting them?"

"If by terrifying you mean so scary I almost couldn't sleep the day before, then yes." Hermione snorted. "Fred didn't make it better either. Had to make jokes all the time. I swear, by the end of the evening they were convinced I was mad, the way I stopped speaking or the way I'd glare at him. They were perfectly lovely, though."

Katie laughed. "I'm sure they thought you were brilliant."

"Well, thanks," Hermione answered tiredly and continued, "Bill was very kind and polite, so was Percy. Polite, I mean, though I'm sure he was just shy. Fred and George had me almost convinced he was this robot-person from the way they'd been talking about him, but the truth is that he just seems dedicated to what he does. He's studying at Uni and working as an assistant whenever he's free."

Katie smirked. "My, hardworking boy. Sounds like someone I know."

Hermione pointed her spoon at her friend. "Don't start."

Katie let out a snigger but other than that obeyed.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "then there was Charlie and Fleur. Both were nice I suppose, but you could tell they wanted out of the house. Mrs. Weasley complained about Charlie not visiting more, while hinting that she'd like for Fleur to visit less. Though, with Fleur's attitude—she was quite rude at times—it doesn't surprise me."

"Don't say that before you get to know her," Katie scolded, "From what you've told me about their archeology adventures, Sexy-Pants obviously chose her for reasons other than her looks. Besides, cultures are different."

"She told Ginny her hair would clash horribly with the pink bridesmaids dresses and argued for a last minute change of colour on them."

Katie shrugged. "She's doing Gin a favour, her hair _would_ clash with pink."

Hermione blinked, "Oh. I suppose you're right." She swirled the now melted ice cream around in its bowl, smiling a little as memories of the previous evening came to mind. "Fred didn't fawn over her."

"Hm?"

"Ron was stumbling over his own feet to accommodate her, but Fred didn't."

Understanding what Hermione was saying, Katie 'aw'd and cupped one her hands to her face, leaning forward on her elbow, "You are just the cutest things."

Hermione said nothing and stirred her ice cream again.

"So when are you meeting again?"

Hermione looked up and bit her lip as she went through the schedule in her mind. "There's going to be a few more dinners before the wedding. Molly's beside herself and wants all of us to spend as much time together as possible. And Fred seems happy, I think he's missed his brothers. Did you hear about the bachelorette party though?"

Katie nodded. "Ginny texted me. Are you up for it?"

Hermione thought back on Ginny's excited explanation of it ('Since we're underage and can't go to the real thing, we should just have a girls night on our own!') and shrugged. "I wouldn't mind spending time with you all, but she said she was going to bring Luna, someone I don't even know, and well . . ."

"You're awful when it comes to meeting new people?"

Hermione grimaced sheepishly.

"Want to drag someone along too then? How about Cho? To get back at Harry for not telling you about her?" Katie grinned wickedly.

Hermione paused and there was a glint in her eyes at hearing this new idea. "That does sound appealing. And I do know Cho a little . . .what are you doing?"

"Texting Ginny to tell her we're bringing Cho. Blimey, this'll be good."

Hermione shook her head at her friend's foolishness. "You live for the drama."

"I know I do," Katie winked, "Why else would I hang with you?"

"I'm not dramatic!"

Katie chuckled, "Whatever you say, hallway snogger."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Transition chapter woooooooo~**

 **I just really felt like writing Hermione and the Weasley's get to know each other better, instead of showing the awkward and predictable first meeting.**

 **Thank you so much for your reviews, follows and favs! And I was so happy to hear you like the last chapter! (and yeah I know this one's shorter but the last one was like three times as long as they usually are 0_0)**

 **Next chapter will be more Burrowness and stuff so prepare! Hugs and butterfly kisses to you all!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	34. Chapter 34

Late Lunch, Chapter 34

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione's grip on her book slackened, the collection of short stories gradually being lowered down to her lap as the words muddled, melting together like the incoherent mess she herself was right now. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she started over, her mind was unable to produce anything of value from the words on the page, and she damned the day Fred Weasley had entered her life.

"Give up yet?" he smirked into the side of her neck.

"Ugh," she groaned, unable to hide the effect the feel of his whisper had on her, "You are horrible. Positively . . .positively vile."

Fred chuckled softly and the inside of Hermione's stomach flipped. It was already difficult enough to be pressed up against him; the two of them sitting beneath a tree at the Burrow, out of sight from prying eyes, with him leaning back against the tree and Hermione leaning back against him, but when he started kissing her . . .it was as if everything in her mind became blank. And when he laughed or chuckled, it vibrated throughout his entire chest and she could feel it.

It was so intimate and comforting and safe and she loved it. But . . .

"You can't do this every time I read," she scolded, removing her hair from its ponytail and thereby cutting Fred off from his easy access to her neck. "Imagine when school starts and I actually have to work."

Fred played with the ends of her newly released locks, twirling them around his fingers and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. "I'm indulging in our free time. Trust me, once school begins I'll be keeping a polite distance."

Hermione snorted. "Nothing about you is polite."

"I do so miss the early days where all it took was for me to smile your way and you'd blush and think I was the greatest thing since . . .well, me."

"Was this back when you were delusional?"

"I know what I saw." Fred paused. "You really didn't think I was great?"

Hermione laughed, throwing her head back and looked up into the amused eyes of her boyfriend. "Of course, I did. I just meant that it took more than just a smile for me to think you were _the greatest_."

Fred's lips quirked and he asked, intrigued, "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Hermione blushed. "Like . . .a laugh." When he burst into actual laughter her blush increased but she attempted to drown it out, her book lying forgotten on the grass as she told him that it wasn't the case anymore. Fred calmed down and eased into the former position again, but now with Hermione having twisted her body so that the upper half faced him, wearing a petulant expression. "I hope you know that that's all in the past, though. You'll have to use significantly more advanced methods to get to me."

Fred grinned. "Really? I find that hard to believe, Granger."

"Try me," she challenged, her stubborn side showing its ugly head.

The boy opposite her was very familiar with that side. So familiar in fact, that he'd carefully chosen to his words, knowing she'd dare him, and thereby steering the conversation to arrive at a point where he could cup her delicate face in his hands and press her lips against his. Which he did.

Her surprised squeak drowned quickly and was instead gradually replaced by sounds of enthusiasm. Though embarrassed by them later, Hermione gave no thought to the small moans Fred's kisses produced when she was caught up in the moment. They still hadn't spoken about taking things to the next step. The subject lingered in the air every time they remembered themselves, what they were doing. Just as they would in a few seconds. But right now they were kissing, and though Hermione did not like to admit it most of the time, it did make her mind go blank.

"Fred! Hermione! It's almost time for dinner!"

Ginny's voice shouting for them at the house broke the spell and the couple stopped their movements, halting in what they now realised was a very awkward position to be found in, with Hermione nearly straddling Fred.

"Erm," she started, disentangling herself gently from him, "we should probably . . ."

"Yeah," he said, his cheeks flushed and breath uneven, which left her feeling oddly proud of herself.

After straightening their hair and clothes, the two of them moved to the Burrow, consciously not holding hands as the thought of where their snogging might someday lead was prominent in both their minds.

"Oh, dears, there you are! Fred, go help your brothers move the tables outside! Hermione, you can come help me and Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley.

Fred parted from her with a small grin and Hermione followed his mother to the kitchen. She frowned when she noticed that it wasn't only Ginny there, but Fleur as well.

"Hello, Hermione," greeted Fleur, her speech carrying only the slightest hint of an accent. "We are moving the food into bowls, would you mind—"

"I think she understands what she's supposed to do," said Mrs. Weasley, not looking at her son's fiancée. "Hermione, dear, the plates," she added, less loud.

Hermione exchanged a look with Fleur as if to say, 'I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on either' and was relieved to find that Fleur brushed the matter off. She was good at that, not taking things personally (even though Hermione suspected Mrs. Weasley's attitude against her was highly personal). It was a quality Hermione had just recently acquired and even that was in the barest amount.

She carried the stack of plates outside just in time to see Charlie and Bill finish placing two large tables together on the lawn.

Charlie wiped some sweat off his forehead. "That looks all right, doesn't it?"

Bill nodded. "Yeah, and if it doesn't at least Mum will tell us so and make us move it all again."

Charlie laughed.

"Chairs! Excellent chairs!" The twins had arrived carrying a stack of chairs each, shouting at the top of their lungs as if they were salesmen.

"Great for your back!" said George.

"Does wonders for your posture!" said Fred.

Once Hermione got a closer look at them she saw what they were making fun of; the chairs were old and broken in some places, meaning that half of them lacked back support.

Ron groaned next to Hermione, making his sudden presence known. "I hate those chairs."

"They should be fine though, right? As long as you don't lean back?"

Ron's ears turned pink. "Might've forgotten that in the past . . ."

Hermione laughed.

The table was quickly set and with everyone's help they were able to bring out the food and dine together in no time. Hermione sat between Fred and Ginny, attempting to keep up with the Weasley family's pace as usual. They somehow managed to eat even with all the ruckus the twins were providing, made extra with the other dynamic duo of Bill and Charlie.

"So, Hermione," said Percy opposite her, "You were telling me last time about being interested in law?"

Hermione chewed her chicken quickly and swallowed. "Y-yes. It's what I'm aiming for at the moment, but I wouldn't be opposed to something else, as long as it's somewhere I can help people."

"Quite right," said Percy and nodded in approval. "One mustn't forget that life is unpredictable and that you can't plan it in detail, but that having a general direction is helpful nonetheless. It's like my superior at work, Mr. Crouch, always says—"

"Percy, get the coffee?"

Hermione elbowed Fred lightly in the ribs, offering a sympathetic smile at a pink Percy who was now staring at his plate.

"I think it's wonderful that you have such ambition the both of you," said Mrs. Weasley, "It would do well for some people to follow your example . . ."

Fred and George rolled their eyes.

"Bill," began Mr. Weasley, dabbing a napkin on his mouth, and then turning to his oldest son, "How are you settling in at your new job? You started last week, didn't you?"

Bill nodded, "It's going quite well, Dad. The museum is different to being out on the field, but it's been interesting so far."

"Well, I'm glad you're not out digging under pyramids anymore. Only a matter of time before you got trapped underneath one," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Bill was very capable at his job and wouldn't have done something as silly as not making sure the structure of the building he was about to enter wasn't stable," said Fleur, elegantly bringing a fork to her mouth as her mother-in-law-to-be bristled.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks.

"You know, I still don't like her, but you've got to respect her nerve," whispered Ginny.

They finished eating an hour later. The summer sun was still in the sky, which meant a warm pleasant temperature but without the possibility of sweating yourself dry if you were to exert yourself. In other words . . .

"Perfect weather for a game," announced Ginny cheerfully after they had removed the last of the dishes.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline," said Hermione. She was still full and wanted to rest more than anything.

"I'll try to win as fast I can," Fred promised and kissed her on the cheek, making her giggle and send him away as he winked.

She sat down on the grass, her legs stretched out and her arms supporting her as she leaned on them, watching as the teams were decided.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Percy when the game had just started. Hermione nodded and he sat down next to her, straightening his shirt and pushing his glasses up with his index finger as he settled. "I never was one for sports," he explained.

"Me neither," she responded politely.

"I hope you don't mind me saying so," Percy started, tearing Hermione's attention away from a cursing Ron who had just missed saving the ball from rolling between the two trees they'd declared a goal, "But you're not what I expected when I heard my brother had acquired a girlfriend."

"Oh?" was all Hermione managed. This whole situation was bringing her back to that horrid day when she'd overheard the girls talk about her and Fred. With just a few words Percy had made her remember the feeling of not being good enough, not being cool enough, not being what others assumed a girlfriend of Fred's would be . . .

Hermione shook her head. No, she wasn't that girl anymore. She and Fred were together and the only thing that mattered was what they thought, and no one else.

"I do not mean to offend you," Percy said after a moment, mistaking the expression she was wearing. "You're just not like my brother, is all."

Hermione shrugged, inwardly sighing at herself for being so easily influenced still, having thought she'd been beyond that now, and promised to not let words like that faze her anymore. She turned to the football field, catching Fred's eye and feeling a grin stretch her lips. "I think we're more alike than people would like to think."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Burrow-ness! Hope you enjoyed seeing some familiar faces, you brilliant readers you!**

 **Thank you for all your lovely reviews and favs and hello to new followers!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	35. Chapter 35

Late Lunch, Chapter 35

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"You're absolutely evil, you know that, right?"

Hermione grinned as wickedly as she could manage. "You should have thought about that, Mr. Potter, before you kept Cho a secret from me."

Harry rolled his eyes and entered her room, bouncing down on the bed. "That's a lot of stuff," he remarked, looking at the pile of clothes and toiletries currently on the floor.

"Ginny's a nightmare," Hermione muttered. "No proper girls' night without the proper attires, she says. And that's _attires_. As in plural." She sighed, and proceeded to eye one of her favourite t-shirts.

"No way Ginny's going to let you wear that," Harry said.

"Thought as much," Hermione groaned and threw it over her shoulder to land in the discard pile.

"But yes, about Ginny's invitation," Harry continued, "have I thanked you for making that happen?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Even if we do get satisfaction from making you suffer, who's to say that Cho wouldn't have a lovely time? Besides, it's my duty as your best friend to make sure she's the right fit for you."

"You know, I see your lips moving, but all I hear are Katie and Ginny speaking."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. Harry laughed.

"I am happy for you though, Harry," she said.

Harry blushed. "Thank you."

She smiled. "Do James and Lily know yet?"

Harry made a face. "I haven't told them, but Dad keeps making 'subtle' comments about me dating."

"Sirius' work then," Hermione sighed. "The only thing stronger than their love for you is their fear of you growing up."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Harry agreed. "Remember that time Mum caught them printing out tons of baby pictures of me the day before my eleventh birthday?"

Hermione laughed and proceeded to quote a frantic James, "'But Lily, he's practically an adult now! I need to remember him as he was!'"

Harry shook his head, "Utterly ridiculous."

Hermione simply smiled, because even though Harry might act annoyed, she knew he loved his parents more than anything. It was evident in everything he did when speaking about them; from the way his eyes sparkled to the fond tilt of his lips, forming a tiny smile just meant for them. The exact way he was looking now.

Hermione returned her attention to the pile of clothes. "Well, just make sure to prepare Cho for what may come up at a Potter dinner, if you ever do introduce her to Lily and James . . .and Sirius."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "So long as you swear to not let her go through anything painful at your slumber party."

"Well, technically speaking, it's not my party—"

" _Hermione_."

Hermione shrugged and grinned a toothy grin. "I can't make any promises, Harry."

Harry picked up two pillows and threw them at her one by one as she laughed. "Evil, evil!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katie, Cho and Hermione traveled together to the Burrow by bus. They arrived safely at the station, bags in hand and anticipation in their stomachs, and waited for Mr. Weasley's blue car to appear.

"Ginny said to be here at six, right?" Cho asked.

"Yeah," said Katie, looking at her watch.

Hermione meanwhile kept quiet, knowing better by now. For all their wonderfulness, punctuality was not one of the Weasley family's virtues.

When Ginny and her father finally did arrive, everyone was eager to get back on the road again. The girls all hugged and exchanged pleasantries, giggling at a mortified Ginny when Mr. Weasley began singing along to an old song on the radio.

Reaching the Burrow, Hermione immediately spotted Fred standing outside the door with his brothers. George was smiling and bowing as the car approached and Percy, well, he was there too.

"I'm told to help carry your bags," he said, after greeting them politely.

Katie came out of nowhere, her hair flying behind her in graceful blonde locks. "Why, thank you!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Percy's cheeks reddened and Katie smiled.

Fred offered his hand. "My lady."

"I think I can handle it," Hermione said, a possessive hand clutching the strap of her bag.

"Oh, I know," he responded. "I just wanted to do this." And without warning he clasped her hand and pulled her to him, kissing her sweetly on the mouth.

"They've been like this the whole summer," George told Cho, who had opted to carry her own bag as well.

"I think it's cute," said Ginny, all while pulling Katie along from Percy. "And what are you guys still doing here? This is a girls' night, remember?"

"Waiting for Dad to take us into town," said George.

"I'll need to say goodbye to your mother and then we're off," Mr. Weasley promised.

"You never did tell me what your plans were," Hermione said as they all walked into the house.

"Well, Bill and Charlie and their friends are going to celebrate at the pub later tonight, but since neither me, George or Ron can go, Dad's taking us to see a game," said Fred.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be much fun at the pub anyway," Mr. Weasley winked as the children laughed.

"And while customary for a man to attend his brother's bachelor party, I'm afraid I'd rather watch the game than be at the pub," said Percy. "While I don't play myself, I pride myself in being an enthusiast for the sport."

George leaned into where Hermione and Cho stood. "He gets nuttier when his team wins than anyone else. Who'd have thought, right?"

"All right, up the stairs with you," Ginny ordered the girls. "Luna texted me she was on her way, but in the meantime we could get started."

The stairs sounded with the patter of feet rushing upstairs, accompanied by the occasional giggle.

"This is where I leave you," Hermione said, the last to stay behind. "Don't forget what I look like in case you'll need to tell the police."

Fred grinned. "If my barmy sister manages to misplace you, the last thing I'll do is have your Dad find out."

Hermione nodded approvingly, holding back a smile.

Fred kissed her cheek. "Have fun." His girlfriend rolled her eyes, but promised she'd try.

Upstairs, the other girls had already made themselves at home on mattresses prepared by Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. Katie had the one next to Ginny's bed, while Cho was by the desk.

"There are only three spare mattresses," Hermione observed.

"Luna insisted on bringing her own since she lives close," Ginny answered, "So that one is wholly yours, Miss Granger." She pointed to the mattress by the window.

While thankful for the invite, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable. She felt out of place and she could feel a draft coming from the window. What did girls do at these things? It fascinated Hermione that though Ginny, Katie and Cho could hold their own against the boys while playing football, they also enjoyed these things. Everything laid out on Ginny's desk told her that the evening would involve make-up, home spa treatments and lots of food. Which in theory might sound good, but not if a person has no experience with the social aspects of it. Would the night be filled with gossip? What did Hermione have to contribute to that? She never did anything particularly outrageous, so what if the others found her boring?

"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. The others merely watched as the redhead rushed out the door and down the stairs, her steps loud.

Cho giggled a bit. "I forget how energetic Ginny is sometimes."

"Don't worry Cho," said Katie, snatching up a crisp from the crisp bowl. "There's still time for that to disappear with age. Just look at us."

Cho giggled again. "She's not that much younger than us."

Katie shrugged and smirked. "Maybe. I'm afraid I'm not too experienced dealing with younger people, unlike some."

The implication in Katie's words were clear and Cho blushed. No matter that Harry was only a few months younger than Cho, he was still younger. But it wasn't nice of Katie to tease Cho about it. After all, there was an age difference between Hermione and Fred as well and they handled that just fine.

Before Hermione could scold Katie for her joke, Ginny reappeared. This time she was holding the hand of a blonde girl with frighteningly large, blue eyes.

"Everyone," Ginny announced, "This is Luna Lovegood."

They all greeted the girl, telling her their own names in the process.

"That's a very interesting necklace," Katie said, nodding to a bottle cap hanging by small chain around the girl's neck.

"Thank you," said Luna. "I enjoy making my own jewelry."

"Really? Maybe you could make me one some time?"

Hermione had no idea how Katie did it; she always managed to interact so effortlessly with people and now, in just a few seconds, she had gained the approval of a stranger. Hermione herself had been thinking how odd the girl looked (even more so today when out of their school uniform), which even she knew was not something you blurted out at a first meeting. She remembered seeing Luna Lovegood before. The girl had a worse reputation than Hermione. Luckily, it seemed being friends with Ginny had repaired it, and when the word of their friendship came out there were less rumours or sightings of Luna being bullied. It was appalling of course that such a thing was allowed to happen, and as a victim of Draco Malfoy's relentless taunting, she could sympathize. But, there was no denying that Luna Lovegood unsettled her. Hermione had even heard that Luna believed the Loch Ness Monster to be real.

"Oh, that could be fun," Luna answered Katie. "But it would have to be whenever inspiration strikes and I won't know in advance when that'll be."

Cho caught Hermione's eye and the two of them exchanged a look. That bottle cap necklace had required inspiration?

Katie smiled. "Of course. Hey, Gin, is everything ready?"

"We only need to bring Luna's stuff and mattress up and then we're good to go," Ginny answered and pulled her long, sleek hair into a ponytail.

"Brilliant!"

They all helped bring Luna's things upstairs ('You are very nice people,' Luna said) and once that was done, Ginny insisted on them all to sit down and play a game to get to know each other better.

"It'll loosen us up a bit. Okay, the first card asks: Have you ever nicked anything?"

All of them took a swig of their soft drinks.

"Didn't know I invited a lot of criminals to my house," Ginny laughed.

"Oh, it was only some chocolate when I was small," said Cho. "My father told me I couldn't have it since it wasn't a weekend. So I took it."

"I did the same except it was a teddy bear," said Katie, smiling.

"My brothers' footballs when I was little," said Ginny.

"Daddy had some nice colours and I wanted to paint with them so I put them in my pocket. He didn't mind of course, but all the same," said Luna.

"You paint, Luna?" asked Cho.

Luna nodded. "Mostly flowers and such, but nowadays I've tried doing portraits as well."

They all now turned to Hermione.

"Well, Miss Granger?" asked Ginny.

Hermione looked down at her glass. "Erm, it was some chemicals. From school."

The others gaped.

"Wait, when was this?" demanded a curious Katie.

Hermione thought back. "I must have been thirteen or so."

" _Thirteen_?!"

"How on earth did you—what did you even need that for?" asked Cho, torn between looking impressed and shocked.

"There had been some experiments I wanted to try out, but we weren't allowed to use the more dangerous chemicals in class, so I figured . . .to get a head start . . ." Hermione's neck grew warmer and warmer.

"Of course it would be for school," laughed Katie.

"Everyone agree that criminal mastermind Hermione is next?" Ginny asked.

After a ridiculously unanimous vote, the pile of cards landed in Hermione's lap. The girl fidgeted in her seat on the mattress, praying that the card wouldn't be too embarrassing.

 _Oh, thank god_ . . .

"Have you ever fantasized about . . . Harry Potter?"

There was an outburst of reactions. Katie and Ginny burst into laughter, Cho turned beet red, and Luna was giggling, seemingly proud of herself for understanding the predicament the question put people in.

"Does it really say Harry Potter on the card?" Cho asked, miserably.

"Well, no. But it says to insert a name we're all familiar with. And choosing Harry means I don't have to drink—don't give me that look Ginny, he's like my brother! Besides," Hermione added, "I'd rather not know if any of you have thought about Fred that way."

"Ugh, me either," said Ginny, following this by taking a big gulp of her drink.

"Ginny!" said Cho, midway through her own drinking.

 _I might not have thought this through_ , Hermione thought, growing anxious at the look Cho was giving the youngest Weasley.

"Oh, please," said Ginny. "Harry's a goodlooking guy, Cho. And another fact is that he wants you, so whatever the rest of us thinks of him doesn't matter. He fancies _you_."

Cho blinked. "I—I'm sorry."

"Don't be too sorry, you're next," Ginny winked.

"Wait," Hermione said, "What about you two?"

Katie shook her head. "No offense, Cho, but he's not my type."

"Yeah, Katie likes them emotionally unavailable," mumbled Ginny. "Hey!" she shouted when a pillow flew to her head.

"I think Harry seems nice, but I don't know him really," said Luna.

"Okay," said Cho, looking eager to move on, "Next question: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?"

This time, Luna was the only one drinking. "I rarely put on clothes when bathing outside of school."

"How are you not more popular?" Katie asked. Luna smiled back at her. "All right, my turn: Have you ever had a dream about a teacher or someone you work with?"

"This is awfully similar to that other question," said Hermione. "Where did you get this, Ginny?"

"Ssh," said Ginny.

"Well, I suppose there's no use in lying," said Katie, "This one's for you, Mr. Lupin!"

When all the other girls took a swig, Hermione couldn't help but gape. "Remus?"

"'Course! He's really fit for a teacher, Hermione," said Ginny.

"Sorry," said Cho.

"Mr. Lupin was a wolf in my dream," said Luna.

Feeling truly uncomfortable, Hermione brought the cup to her lips.

"I KNEW IT!" shouted Katie.

"Never mind that now," said Ginny, taking the deck of cards and interrupting before Hermione could defend herself. "I think we've learned enough about each other, how about we start the other activities?"

More than eager for that, Hermione and Cho were the first to change into their pajamas. Immediately afterwards, they had dinner brought up— homemade pizza made by Mrs. Weasley, who had said that since it was a special occasion, they were allowed to eat in the bedroom.

"Your mum is an amazing cook, Ginny," said Cho. "Mine works all the time, so it's either my father cooking or we get take out."

"I wish my father cooked," said Katie. "He tries, but most of the time my stepmother has to take over." She laughed. "Without her, Dad would have burned down the house by now, I expect."

"That's a fun coincidence because that's what happened with my mother," said Luna.

Suddenly, the good mood was gone and all that was left was horrified silence.

"Oh, right," said Ginny shakily after a while, bringing herself to clarify on behalf of her friend. "Luna's mum passed away a few years ago."

"I'm so sorry," Katie said, her voice nothing but sincere. "That must have been awful."

Luna nodded. "It was very traumatic. But I have my Dad."

"You—you witnessed what happened?" Hermione asked, already fearing the answer.

"Oh yes, I was just outside playing in the garden when the kitchen erupted into flames."

"Luna . . ." Hermione didn't know what to say. What did one say to someone who'd had to go through something like this? "You're . . .you're very brave."

Luna beamed. "Thank you."

They went back to mindless chatter after that, helped by Luna's attitude. She didn't seem to want them all to be burdened with her past, so they didn't let themselves be. Out of respect. If Luna could smile, then so could they.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Sorry it's been so long!**

 **Anyway, yeah, so Luna finally appears! Yay! And Hermione is a bit judgy as you might have noticed, but I wanted to keep that element from the book. Still, she'll come around, who can resist the charm of the Luna, amirght?**

 **More gal pal slumber party fun in the next chapter and then maybe a wedding will happen, who knooooowss? *wink wink wink***

 **Hope you're all doing well and have plenty of veggies to eat!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	36. Chapter 36

Late Lunch, Chapter 36

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Wait, Oliver? As in Oliver Wood?"

"Yep! He was my first boyfriend," said Katie. "He only did it to be nice and it was only for the few hours I needed to make a boy in my class jealous, but you know . . . still. . ." She shrugged, though the action did nothing to hide the smug look on her face.

Cho nodded approvingly. "I always thought he was cute. Rather handsome too. Though a bit—"

"Mental? Oh, definitely," said Katie.

"I remember Percy telling me about him, before I first met him," said Ginny. "They used to be in the same class before Uni, and Oliver had more than once got to school late because of practicing football drills the night before."

"Sounds like Oliver," smirked Katie, taking a sip of her coke.

"I'm amazed at how all of you know each other," Hermione said. "I only ever had Harry and his family, but we all still went to the same school. I mean, it's a bit unbelievable that I never met Percy before this summer."

"Well, you and Percy were probably both busy doing your homework at home," Ginny teased. "Oh, don't be like that, Hermione! You knew about Fred and George and me!"

"Only because Fred and George are . . .well, Fred and George." Hermione couldn't help a smile. "And you, Ginny—I wouldn't have known about you if you hadn't spoken to me and said hello all those times."

"It's important to be nice," Ginny said.

"Yes, Ginny is very nice," agreed Luna. "That's why everyone wants to be her friend."

"Hear that, mates? Everyone. You should all be treating me like a god so I don't leave you."

"Isn't that what we're forced to do already?" Katie stage-whispered to the others.

"Show some respect, Bell! You're under my roof now!"

"Are they always so . . ." Cho began, but Hermione quickly nodded.

"Indeed, they are. It's a miracle I'm not constantly exhausted."

Cho smiled. "I would have imagined the twins were the exhausting ones."

Hermione laughed. "They are. Honestly, the more I think about it, I can't believe I'm still alive, what with all these hyper-active monsters surrounding me."

Katie and Ginny halted their bickering and turned to Hermione and Cho.

"I'm sorry, were you talking about us?" Ginny asked.

"Monsters, are we?" said Katie. "Is that right, Granger?

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you two . . .Fine, I was talking about you. What are you going to do about it?"

Katie and Ginny exchanged evil glints.

"The boys are home, Kates."

"Indeed they are, Gin."

"Wouldn't it be a shame to embarrass young miss Granger in front of her beau?"

"Dreadful."

"Really?" Hermione could only watch as the two girls rose and exited the room excitedly. Cho met her gaze and they followed, Luna trailing behind them as if only doing so to be present when what would be occurring . . .occurred.

"Oy, 'Mione!" Ron exclaimed as they made to rush past him coming up the stairs. He was chewing on a slice of pizza he'd undoubtedly sneaked past his mother's defenses in the kitchen. "What's the rush?"

"Hello, Ron," Hermione said, suddenly hyper-aware she was wearing a set of blue pyjamas and nothing else. She crossed her arms. "Have you seen Ginny and Katie around?"

"Yeah, they headed downstairs. The others are outside waiting for Bill and Charlie. I was getting another jumper for the cold—"

"Right, thank you!"

"Oy—"

But they paid no mind to the rest of his words, because Cho and Hermione were already down the stairs. Luna however, greeted him shortly before joining them again a second later.

As soon as they got their shoes on, they were out of the house. The first thing they noted was laughter coming from the pond. Apparently the other Weasleys had settled in a ring around a small fire. Once they got closer though, it was clear neither Katie nor Ginny were present. Odd . . .

"Got ya," a female voice announced behind them. The three girls jumped and saw Katie and Ginny smirk at them from where they crouched behind a tree. "Blimey, you should see your faces."

"What's the point in all this?" Hermione asked, catching her breath after being startled. "What do you have planned?"

"Honestly? Nothing really," said Ginny. "We just wanted to make you panic. Oh, and give you grief over calling us monsters."

"Well, consider your mischief managed," said Hermione wryly, using a term she'd heard James, Remus and Sirius utter on more than one occasion.

"Mischief managed? Got to say I like the sound of that, George," said a new voice.

"Can't believe we never thought about that one ourselves, Fred," said another.

Hermione froze in place and as she did she noted a bit of remorse fleet by on Ginny and Katie's faces.

"Oh my," said Luna, "it appears something happened anyway, Ginny."

"Yes, Luna, it does," Ginny whispered back.

Hermione turned around, meeting the very amused look on Fred's face with her embarrassed one. She tried desperately to hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra by crossing her arms again, and she hoped the messy bun on top of her head wasn't making her look worse than usual. Then, Fred reached forward, wiping something flakey off her cheek.

"Ah, they forced me to put some face mask on before," Hermione explained, trying to get rid of the rest of the green remains discreetly. The scratching might not have been the best idea, since there was a large chance her skin grew red now. If it wasn't red already.

Fred let out a soft snort. He looked at Ginny. "You force all your guests to participate in these ridiculous things?"

"They're not ridiculous, they're supposed to help them relax."

"To be fair, they all do look very relaxed," said George, grinning at their attire.

"Oh, shut up," said Katie, already walking back up to the house and not minding the fact that she was wearing pink bunny patterned bottoms.

Cho hurried after her, though unlike Katie looking as if she did mind being caught in her nightwear and therefore had a more awkward walk in her steps. Hermione didn't think she'd ever seen Cho self-conscious before. The girl was among the prettiest girls in school.

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "You're not wearing shoes?"

The blonde looked down slowly to her exposed toes. "No, it appears I don't. But it's fine, really. The grass feels nice against my toes."

"Sure, sure," said Ginny. "But Mum will kill me if she sees dirt inside the house."

"Oh, please," scoffed Fred, "We bring in all sorts of rubbish all the time! There's been dirt—"

"—old leaves—"

"—motor oil—"

"—rusty pieces of metal—"

"—rotten fruit, ashes—"

"Ashes?" Hermione interrupted.

"From fireworks, Herms," Fred grinned. "Why? Were you worrying about it being something else?"

She blushed. "Of course not."

"Wouldn't surprise me though if it were from a corpse," said Ginny. "Only you two would think to get away with something like that while being blatantly obvious."

"You wound us, sister!" said George. "We could get away with murder if we wanted!"

"Yeah!"

"All of you, please," said Hermione, clutching her temple as the siblings continued to squabble, "Daughter of a policeman here."

Luna just looked fascinatedly on, distracted only when a sudden burst was heard from the house.

"ARTHUR!" Mrs. Weasley's voice rang across the yard. "ARTHUR!"

Mr. Weasley hurried from his seat by the pond and Percy quickly followed. "Molly? What is it, dear?"

The other teenagers had made their way after them to the house too, and Hermione could now see tears streaming down Mrs. Weasley's usually warm and welcoming face.

"Charlie," she sobbed, clutching her phone, "He just called to say there's been an incident down at the pub. It's Bill, Arthur. Bill is in the hospital."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, lovelies!**

 **I was debating about whether or not to include that last part, but then I thought: Drama? Gimme.**

 **So yeah.**

 **Hope the rest of it was fluffy enough for you though, fluffmonsters! *hearts***

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	37. Chapter 37

Late Lunch, Chapter 37

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

It was a long, nervous wait for them at the Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had left for the hospital, leaving Percy in charge, the latter of whom didn't do much but stride back and forth in front of the fire place.

"Percy, for everyone's sake, sit down," said Fred from his seat on the sofa. Next to him were Ron and George, both wearing the same, slightly stricken faces.

Hermione, who was on Fred's other side, laid a hand gently on his arm. "Your father said he'd call when he knew more. It'll be fine."

Fred nodded, but didn't do more than send her a fleeting smile. She knew he was trying to show her that he appreciated her efforts, but that half-smile nearly killed her. If Fred was sad he shouldn't force himself for her.

Without meaning to, her grip tightened, sending Fred's head looking up again. He threw a raised eyebrow at her to which she responded with a light shake of her head and removal of her hand. His oldest brother was in the hospital, he shouldn't have to worry about her too.

Percy's phone rang (the tone unsurprisingly sounding just like an old phone) and startled all of them to look up from their seats, and when he fiddled clumsily with removing it from his pocket, he prompted a frustrated chorus of shouts from his siblings.

"Bloody hell, Percy," said Ron and George when he finally managed to get hold of it.

"H-hello? Father?" Percy nodded along, making the rest of them all the more intrigued and impatient. "So he got into a—of course. But Bill, he—yes, I understand. Well, tell mother not to worry, it sounds like he'll make it through. All right. See you in a while."

"Well?" Ginny asked, her hands tightly wounded together. "What did they say? Is Bill all right?"

"Yes," Percy nodded, making everyone, including non-Weasleys like Hermione, Katie, Cho and Luna, sigh in relief. "It appears some brute named Greyback was causing a disturbance in the pub and when Bill and Charlie tried to stop him, Greyback swiped a broken bottle at Bill's face."

"Oh my god!" Hermione gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth.

"His face?" Cho echoed, her eyes wide.

"Not to worry, Father said he's getting a few stiches, but that he's not severely injured."

"Not severely injured? Do you hear yourself, Percy?" said Ron. "You just told us he needed stitches!"

"Yes, and we should be thankful that's all it is!" For the first time, Percy looked like he was losing his temper. "Our brother had no business interfering with what should be police work, yet he did. We should all cheer he did not end up blind, or worse! He works in a museum for heavens' sake! How did he think he could . . ."

Ginny rose from her chair and gave Percy a hug. "Stupid people do stupid things, but the stupid one here was obviously that Greyback fellow."

"I . . .I recognize that name," Hermione said quietly to Fred. "I think he's supposed to have been in prison until recently."

Fred blinked. "Then we're really lucky nothing else happened. How'd you know?"

Hermione frowned. "James, Dad and Sirius, they arrested someone with that name a few years ago. I remember they celebrated. And it had to do with Remus . . . He's the one that gave Remus his scar!"

"Mr. Lupin has a scar?"

"Mhm," Hermione nodded, her memories of the story surrounding his scar returning. "A rather large one on the side of his stomach. He got it when he was little. Fenrir Greyback wanted to get back at Remus' father for sentencing him to community service, so he broke into the Lupins' house and one thing led to another . . ." She trailed off, remembering the embarrassed look on her favourite teacher's face, someone who she viewed as a dear adult friend in her mind, and the obvious fear he had her recoiling or being scared when her family went swimming with the Potters at his cottage for the first time. How he'd smiled when her thirteen year old self had said that it didn't make a difference to her, and that she'd still have him in her water polo team.

"Blimey," said Fred. "Then I guess Bill got lucky . . ."

Hermione didn't respond, but she took Fred's hand into her own and when he squeezed it back, she felt her heart soar. He knew. He knew she was there.

"I hope they put the bastard back in prison," said George. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear."

"Nothing to apologise for, I hope the same," said Hermione.

Suddenly, the door opened, but it wasn't a red head of hair that appeared. Instead, Fleur Delacour stormed inside into the living room, her silvery blonde locks plastered to her face and her cheeks red. She'd been rushing here as if her life depended on it. Although, since she loved Bill, then it would have.

"Where is he?" she gasped. "Where is Bill? Is he not here yet?"

"No," said Ginny, still standing next to Percy. "They're still on their way from the hospital."

"I can't believe this," grumbled Fleur, but it looked like it was mostly to herself. "I can't believe no one told me until now. I'm his fiancée!"

"We were a bit busy worrying about our brother to tell you," Ginny spat at her. "You know, since we're his family."

For a moment anger and hurt flashed in Fleur's deep-blue eyes. Then they averted and she strode away to wait outside.

"A bit harsh, Gin," said Katie, when the door was slammed shut.

"Yes, well." Ginny crossed her arms, staring stubbornly at the wall.

Ten minutes later, they heard a car pull in and park in front of the door.

"My brave, foolish boy," Mrs. Weasley was sobbing as she entered with a bandaged Bill into the hallway.

"Honestly, Mum, he can walk just fine, he just got a bit sliced up in the face is all," said Charlie behind her.

Mr. Weasley and Fleur trailed behind them, and it wasn't until Bill gently removed himself from his mother's embrace that Fleur had the chance to run up to him.

"I'm so sorry, the wedding pictures will make it look like you're marrying a mummy," Bill tried to joke.

"You always did love Egypt, and it's where we met, so it seems only appropriate," said Fleur, affectionately removing stray locks of red hair from his forehead as she did.

Mrs. Weasley looked up from her handkerchief. "Wait— so, there's still a wedding?"

Fleur and Bill stared at her. "Yes."

Mrs. Weasley grew red, but not from tears this time. "Oh, I—that's wonderful—"

"Why would you think we wouldn't be getting married anymore?" Fleur questioned, interrupting the other woman. "You think I'm so shallow that I'd let a few bandages and stitches stop me marrying him? These wounds only show that my future husband is brave."

"Well, of course, I didn't mean . . .I just thought that perhaps you'd prefer to at least wait until he was . . ." Mrs. Weasley lost her train of thought as she watched Fleur fuss over Bill's hair being in his eyes again. Then, when Fleur was done, she said, "Our Great Auntie Muriel has a tiara—silver—that has been passed down the family. It's rather beautiful. I might be able to persuade her to lend it to you, she always did like Bill. And it would go lovely with your hair."

"Thank you," said Fleur. "I'm sure it will be lovely."

And then, to everyone's bewilderment and surprise, the two women were embracing and sobbing. Whether from the long and exhausting tension dissipating between them or the adrenaline of tonight's events, Hermione wasn't sure. What she did know was that whatever problems had existed between the two women, they were no longer.

"Well, Ginny," said Katie quietly. "Your slumber parties are far from dull."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello again, dearies! (So soon? What? Does Prim have nothing else to do? Apparently not…when inspiration strikes, it strikes hard)**

 **Yes, I kept this kinda close to the books, but you know what? The development between Fleur and Mrs. Weasley was a great thing in the books. Also, I love mah Fleur, she deserved to be accepted into the family.**

 **Thank you for your reviews, mah loves!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	38. Chapter 38

Late Lunch, Chapter 38

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Mum, calm down, I'll be fine."

Hermione's mother put her hands on her hips, reminding Hermione far too much of Mrs. Weasley. "Oh? Well, if you say so then I suppose I'll let you walk out of here, just like that."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Why do I sense this is a trick?"

" _Hermione_ ," her mother said impatiently. "You love pretending you don't care, but I know you do. Just let me help my daughter, won't you?"

"I just don't understand why everyone's so concerned about this all the time! I've survived this far! First Katie and Ginny, now you—"

"Hermione, love, you're not seriously going to show up at the wedding like that, are you?" Her green eyes wide, Lily Potter entered unannounced into Hermione's room. The plastic garment bag she carried was laid out on the bed while Lily herself settled on it, crossing her arms and legs, still staring at Hermione in incredulity. "Not to say you're not looking . . .well, you've always been a lovely girl, even before you had your teeth fixed, but—"

Hermione tugged at her dress. "Lily, please, I don't have anything else. Let me just wear this . . ."

"Oh, sweetheart, what did you think I brought this over for?" Lily presented the garment bag again and gave it an affectionate pat. "This dress has served me well in the past and I'd hoped to pass the magic on, but since Harry unfortunately never did show an appreciation for dresses . . ." In spite of herself, Hermione giggled, which made Lily grin.

"What do you say, darling?" Hermione mother asked. "At least give it a try?"

Hermione bit her lip for a second, but after contemplating the options before her and the expectant looks on the adult women's faces, there appeared to be no choice but to concede. She sighed. "Fine."

Lily and her mother squealed in excitement. "Perfect! And afterwards we'll go over hairstyle options!"

"Wait—what?" Hermione blinked in confusion but they took no notice and the last thing she saw before screaming was lilac . . .

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Oh, c'mon, now you're exaggerating," Hermione's father chuckled from the driver's seat.

Hermione huffed. "Believe what you want, that's what happened. Mum and Lily are hiding a vicious side."

"I don't doubt that," her father said, still smiling. "But what I do find hard to believe is how you're acting like this is news."

His daughter's lips twitched. "Don't let Mum hear you say that."

He chuckled again. After turning into the unpaved road that led to the Burrow, he continued, "You do look very pretty, sweetheart. I'm sure there will be more eyes on you than the bride."

Hermione blushed. "Dad . . ."

"All right, all right, I'm embarrassing you. I know."

Hermione fiddled with her small purse while looking down at her dress. It really was beautiful. It was sleeveless, but had a modest laced neckline and when she'd looked in the mirror before she left she'd felt more girly and delicate than she ever had before. The tamed curls falling down her back didn't hurt either.

"Not a lot of cars here," observed her father suddenly, slowing the car down.

Hermione looked up and observed that they were already at the Burrow. Indeed, there weren't a lot of cars, but Hermione knew it was because most of them wouldn't turn up until later at the church. She also noted the tent was in the process of being raised, spotting many a redheaded men standing around it. She couldn't discern Fred from them yet, but she wondered how he'd react once he saw her. Would he like it, the way she looked?

Her father parked outside the Burrow, not driving down the driveway but opting to stand just outside the Weasleys' yard. He pointed to the overnight bag in the backseat. "Don't forget that and have a good time, okay? I know large gatherings aren't your cup of tea but that Ginny won't let me or Mum hear the end of it if we don't have you at least show some effort."

Hermione snorted at the memories of her parents' and Ginny's interactions and had no other choice but to agree. "Really don't want to come inside? I'm sure Mr. Weasley would love to see you."

Her father's eyes narrowed. "Don't tease me, young lady. You're not out of the car yet."

Hermione giggled. "Fine, I'll spare you today. But be ready to receive a questionnaire from him when I come home tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it."

And with that, Hermione waved her father off as he drove back home. Suspecting people were waiting for her, as her arrival was sure to have been noticed, Hermione immediately made for the Burrow. Or more precisely, the tent.

"Hermione!" A voice intercepted her walk, making her turn toward the house. "Come drop your things off!"

Hermione sighed, postponing meeting Fred and instead greeted Ginny with a smile.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," said the other girl as they went to her room. "Fred's going to go mental."

Hermione blushed, but forced herself not to have her expectations extend higher than they already were. "You're not dressed yet?"

Ginny groaned. "I'm attempting put it off for as long as I can. I'd hate for the dress to be ruined before the ceremony. But perhaps it is time . . .Did I show it to you, by the way?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Oh, well that's a sign then! Hold on a second!"

Hermione waited as her friend escaped to the bathroom to get dressed ('The effect is lost if you see it immediately!') and when Ginny finally did emerge, she was wearing a pale gold dress that made her red hair look stunning. Or more so than usual.

"That's the reaction I was looking for!" Ginny grinned. "Zip me up, will you?"

Once the girls were done checking their appearance they walked downstairs again, Hermione eager to meet up with Fred. But again, her path was blocked, as at the foot of the stairs a blonde girl almost crashed into them on her way up.

At first Hermione mistook her for Fleur, but a good second look proved to her that though the girl seemed to be at least a a few years older, she was too young to be Fleur. Not to mention that her appearance was slightly different. She was however much like Ginny wearing a golden dress.

"Excuse me, I'm so sorry," said Hermione.

The girl waved her off. "As long as the dress is fine, don't concern yourself."

"Gabrielle, this is Hermione," said Ginny, impatiently. "Hermione, Gabrielle."

Hermione shook Gabrielle's hand, feeling something gnawing in the back of her mind as she did. "Forgive me, but you look very familiar."

Gabrielle giggled. "Not surprising, I am Fleur's sister after all."

"No, that's not what I—"

"All right, we need to get going," said Ginny. "And you should probably check on Fleur."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're a bridesmaid too, you know . . ."

But Ginny didn't listen and dragged Hermione off and out the door.

"It was nice to meet you!" Hermione forced out, before Gabrielle disappeared from view. "Ginny," she chastised.

"Sorry, 'Mione, I just can't with that family."

They were out on the yard again and now Hermione was impressed to see that the tent was somehow already fully raised and supplied with chairs and tables. Part of her suspected the twins' ingenuity to have played a part in that.

"Where's your mother?" Hermione asked, wanting to distract herself from suddenly feeling her stomach give birth to butterflies.

"She's running around in the kitchen, don't worry. She won't come out until the very last minute," said Ginny. "Ah, there he is."

But Hermione already knew who he was and that he was approaching. Walking toward the house, Fred was laughing at something George had said and both of them were wearing their suits already, but without the jackets. Hermione unconsciously wet her lips as she observed how Fred looked very good in a vest . . .

"Isn't it supposed to be the boy who gets awestruck?" she asked aloud, only half-joking. The way she'd pictured this going had been like in the movies; the girl gets dressed up and the boy is amazed by her transformation. That's what a more irrational part of her had expected. But seeing her boyfriend now, though it always did things to her before, it felt very much like a moment like that, only that the roles were reversed.

Ginny snorted and predictably rolled her eyes.

Coming closer, Fred finally noticed her. Hermione smiled shyly back and waved, not oblivious to the way Fred stopped as soon as he saw her in what she assumed was still a decent outfit.

"You look absolutely wonderful," he said, once George propelled him to move again.

Hermione blushed. "Thank you. So do you."

"These old things?" he joked, but there was a sparkle in his eyes and she knew he appreciated her compliment.

"Children!" Mr. Weasley approached, smiling and clasping his hands together jovially. "How about you get prepared to leave? We're expected at the church any minute now."

Next to him stood Ron and Percy, the latter looking at his wristwatch and wiping his brow. Whether from the sun shining or from having helped with the tent, Hermione didn't know.

"According to schedule, people are due to appear in half an hour at the church. It seems appropriate to be there to receive them and make sure everything's as it should on location."

"Didn't know you were a wedding planner, Percy," said Fred, offering his arm to Hermione who took it.

"There's a career option I never considered for you," chimed George. "But I can oddly see it."

"Now really—" started Percy, but didn't have a chance to say anything else as the twins were already walking away.

"Oh, Perce," said Ginny, patting his arm. "Just leave it."

"You all set to go?" Fred asked Hermione as he led her back to the house.

"My things are upstairs, and Ginny helped check my appearance twice."

Fred's lips pulled upward. "You do look stunning."

Hermione blushed again. "Thank you."

"I'll just go put my jacket and tie on—don't smirk at me, Granger, or I'll make you put it on for me."

Hermione's smile stayed in place as she watched him walk upstairs, with George shaking his head behind him. With nothing to do Hermione decided to pay Mrs. Weasley a quick visit in the kitchen before they left. They would of course meet at the church, but she felt it only polite to greet her beforehand.

Hermione stopped, however, when she heard voices travel just outside the kitchen.

"—and perhaps not quite as much salt in the chicken! We don't want it to be dry, do we?"

"M'am, forgive me, but we're only doing what we were hired to—"

"Oh, Molly, can you believe what they're saying?"

The voice of Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Auntie Muriel, let the caterers do their job—"

Hermione slowly backed away from the kitchen entrance, sensing that it might be better to leave the greeting for later at a less stressful time for Mrs. Weasley.

Ten minutes later, after the twins and Ron had dressed and come downstairs, Hermione, Fred, George and Ron were in the car, driven by Mr. Weasley. Ginny had as a bridesmaid been forced to join in Fleur's car later while Percy and Charlie were in Bill's.

The cars arrived together in front of the small church and they climbed out, Hermione needing a little bit of help from Fred not tripping over her dress on the way. Once outside she thanked him and retrieved her purse from inside the car.

"We're leading the groom here to the back!" Charlie called out, his suit taking Hermione by surprise as it was more conventional than she'd expected it to be. Same went for Bill standing next to his brothers, still sporting the bandages of course, but he was missing the earring he usually wore and his ponytail was neat and tidy.

While Bill, Percy and Charlie walked around the building to the back, Ron, Mr. Weasley and the twins walked inside, their chatter drowning in the crowd ahead. People had already started trickling in it seemed.

Hermione fell behind, busy taking in the beautiful décor. The church really did look beautiful. She could see why Fleur had no objections marrying outside her home country; the old building just oozed history.

Eventually she realised others would be accusing her of blocking the entrance, and just as she was about to head for the seats there was a tap on her shoulder. Hermione swirled around, an apology already on her lips, when the sight of the person in front of her made her jaw drop.

His brown hair was longer than she remembered and he'd grown a beard, but she'd recognize him anywhere.

Viktor smiled. "Hello, Hermione. Long time no see."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Whhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat holy ducks!?**

 **Yeah, I did that. *chuckles evilly***

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	39. Chapter 39

Late Lunch, Chapter 39

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Viktor!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise and dropped her purse, hearing it land with a thud on the stone floor. She quickly kneeled to retrieve it, but failed a few times before finally—and awkwardly—resting the strap in its place on her shoulder. "How—how lovely to see you! What . . .what are you doing here?"

Viktor blinked. "Fleur invited me. Her sister and I met at the foreign exchange program."

Hermione gaped. "But that would mean that she was at Hogwarts!"

He laughed. "Yes, she was. You did not know this?"

Hermione blushed. "It never came up. Though I did think she looked familiar . . ."

"She didn't spend much time in library," joked Viktor, knowing that Hermione felt bad for not fully recognising Gabrielle.

Hermione smiled back at him. "It really is good to see you. How have you been?"

Viktor shrugged, his expression still bright, but Hermione felt guilty nonetheless. She had stopped writing to him and though they both knew that the long-distance thing had been bound to fail eventually, he had been willing to fight for it. She had not.

"I've been studying at University for some time now, as you might recall, and I enjoy it," Viktor said, "But I miss Britain." He met her eyes and Hermione's mind took no time to fill the gaps. Oh, she had to stop this.

"I have a boyfriend!"

There was a pause where Viktor stared at her, his thick brows raised, and Hermione held her breath. What sort of way was that to inform him?!

Finally, when all her blood was done rushing to her face, Viktor chuckled.

"I'm not an idiot, Hermione," he said. "Someone like you would not stay single for long."

"I—thank you . . .I suppose. I'm sorry for telling you that way, I just didn't want you to think . . ."

"You didn't want to give me false impression, I understand. You're a very kind person."

She frowned. "I'm really not."

Viktor smiled and took her hand in his. "Ah, but you are. Now, I'll ask you for a dance later. But only as friends," he added, for her benefit. He kissed the hand and bowed before walking away and disappearing to the seats by the aisle.

"How is it that I leave your side for five seconds and you've already got men kneeling at your tiny feet?" Fred asked, offering her his arm to take. He led them to their seats on the groom's side and they ended up next to George and Ginny.

"That wasn't just . . ." Hermione started, attempting to explain what had happened to Fred. "Erm, that wasn't someone . . .it wasn't—it was Viktor."

Before Fred could say anything, Ginny got to her first. "Viktor?" she asked, astounded. " _The_ Viktor?"

Hermione nodded. She glanced at Fred. "Does that . . .does that bother you?"

Fred's brows pulled together and his mouth twisted to something contemplating. "Well, not really. Does _that_ bother _you_?"

She shook her head quickly. "No! Because I don't want it to bother you. I want you to be unbothered. And you should be, because there's nothing worth bothering about."

Fred smiled. "Well, then I'm not bothered."

"I am," said George, looking nauseous. "You're both bothering me."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The ceremony was lovely. Fleur had walked in with her gorgeous white dress, the room holding their breath at her beauty, but while all eyes had been on her, Fleur's eyes had been solely on Bill. Hermione couldn't think of anything more romantic.

They'd exchanged their vows and the twins had cheered and applauded louder than the rest, earning a mild, chastising look from their eldest brother and to everyone's surprise, a fond eye roll from the bride.

As lovely as the ceremony had been, the dancing afterwards at the Burrow was lively. True to the Weasley spirit, there was no moment of stillness or rest. Hermione couldn't remember ever having been as exhausted as she was right then, having danced with all the siblings (Ginny included) and their male relatives. Everyone seemed eager to meet the girl who had tied down one of the twins. Which wasn't even the case. If anything, she felt Fred was livelier and more exuberant with her tonight than she'd ever seen him be on his own. Especially when they danced.

While on the subject of dancing, Viktor had had his dance as promised, but kept a respectful distance after that. She could see him try to mingle and there were plenty of girls curious to speak with him, but mostly he seemed to stay next to Gabrielle (who upon discovering who Hermione was dating had sent her friend a sad fleeting look). Nevertheless, Hermione was glad to have spent some time with him, if only to discover that there was nothing left to discover. She was happy now and even if by some chance Viktor still had feelings for her, she knew he too had realised that their past was in the past.

"Oh, come now," said Fred, sitting down next to her by the table. "You can't tell me you're already knackered? I heard Fred Weasley's girlfriend sacrificed chickens and threw them down a volcano to increase her stamina and patience. All so that she could keep up with him. Or was that part not true?"

"Dear lord, your family has a strange image of me," Hermione groaned. "The only one not putting me on a pedestal is your Aunt Muriel. And I'm not honestly not quite certain if I don't prefer that."

Fred's lips quirked. "You're doing wonderfully."

"Really?"

"Yes, George has heard many say that he shouldn't let you go. Mostly because they thought he was me . . .or so I hope."

Hermione smirked. "Fred, I've got something to tell you—"

"My poor heart!" he exclaimed. "No, let it not be this way!"

Hermione couldn't help it, she laughed. He was utterly ridiculous.

 _Utterly ridiculous . . .and utterly mine._

Grabbing hold of his jacket, she surged forward and closed what little distance was between them. Fred was surprised at her enthusiasm, knowing that despite their very public first kiss, Hermione saved that extra energy for when they were alone. And she really did want to be alone right now.

"Do you want to . . .maybe go somewhere more private?" she asked, looking shyly up through her lashes, taking in his expression. His lips were red, both from the kiss and her lipstick, and Hermione decided she wanted to leave similar marks on other parts of him. If he agreed to let her.

It took a second, but Fred eventually nodded and took her hand to lead her out of the tent.

"There are upsides to dating a prankster I see," she joked as they went unnoticed in the dark and already ended up by the house.

"Oh, that's just the first of _many_ ," he assured her. Once inside the door, he pulled her close again and Hermione would have to say that there really were.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Bow chicka wow wow**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	40. Chapter 40

Late Lunch, Chapter 40

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione had never wanted to burn anything down this badly.

The Burrow had its charm and part of that charm was its age, but right now that age was acting against her. The creaks and groans of the stairs echoed far too loudly in the empty house and it scared her to think that someone might follow that sound if they weren't indeed alone.

Creak, creak, creak . . .

Hermione swallowed. She already had her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and the incessant noise did not help. But as she looked at Fred's broad shoulders in front of her and felt the way he held hand, ever so firm and steady, she couldn't help but think: Yes. She was ready.

She squeezed his hand back and could almost sense him smile. Despite not seeing his face.

When they arrived outside the door, he paused. She looked up at him through her lashes, taking in his beautiful face. She could count those freckles forever. In fact, she was aching to do so at this very moment. She wanted to trace her fingers down his nose and then further down across his chest (the realisation made her blush) and she wanted to stand so much closer than they were already. Why were they standing so far apart?

Hermione took a step forward, placing her palms against him. She heard Fred take in a sharp breath and she felt pride in having her touch affect him. Once again, she looked up, this time to observe his expression. She quickly realised he was doing the same with her.

His eyes held one very clear question. And Hermione gave her answer. She nodded.

Immediately, his lips found hers. It wasn't the sweet, tender kiss she'd anticipated, and she squeaked in surprise at its intensity. But she shouldn't have been surprised; Fred never did anything by halves. And luckily, neither did she.

With as much enthusiasm, she kissed him back.

His hands rejoiced at her response and clutched her tight, before gliding down and sending tingles that spread throughout her entire body. Then, after some slight hesitation, they found her behind and gave a squeeze.

Hermione, having been busy exploring him as well, started giggling.

"What?" asked Fred. He was looking amused, yet there was an unmistakable tinge of nervousness attached to his smile.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I just . . .erm . . .I'm just not used to people touching me on my bum."

He chuckled. "Should I not then?"

"Well, it wasn't bad. I suppose I'm just not used to _this_ ," she moved her hand, motioning it between the two of them. "We've kissed before, but not like . . .You know, perhaps we should move this to your bedroom."

"Excellent point, dearest," said Fred, releasing her long enough to open the door. "Would hate to get caught snogging you senseless by my mother."

He quickly found her again when the door closed behind them, arms wrapped around her waist, and lips wanting.

"Fred," said Hermione in-between kisses, "word of advice: don't bring up your mother when you're kissing a girl."

"Duly noted," he mumbled against her mouth. She rolled her eyes at his lazy tone but honestly couldn't find it in herself to be bothered. It was all just too good.

Fred's lips had begun traveling south and Hermione gasped when pressed them against her neck, right below the ear. She'd later reflect on how this had made her tug at his hair, and how strange it was that she had had that strength when all her knees had wanted was to buckle and melt.

Not wanting to be outdone, she moved her hands down to the hem of his shirt. She frowned when she realised just how many additional layers there would be before she could touch him. So she got to work. Jacket. Waistcoat. And, finally, shirt.

Hermione took time to fully appreciate the sight in front of her. There were the muscles, the tufts of chest hair, and the trail leading down . . . All the things she now realised she'd claimed as hers long ago.

"Like what you see?"

Hermione's brown eyes met his, one thumb absently rubbing his chest as she spoke. "You're beautiful."

Fred grinned. "You're just saying that to get into my pants."

"Perhaps," she replied, sending him a coy smile that they both knew was anything but. "Is it working?"

"Oh yeah." Fred moved closer again. "But your seduction technique might need just the tiniest bit more work." His hands traveled down her hips, making her insides squirm in anticipation, searching along her thighs for the end of her dress, and pulled. Hermione raised her arms and he gently removed the fabric.

Fred welcomed the newly exposed skin, reveling in the feel of her. "Much better."

Whilst goosebumps prickled across her arms, stomach and legs at his touch, Hermione still managed to give a small snort. "So, essentially, all I had to do was take my clothes off?"

"What can I say? I'm a simple man."

Hermione laughed and pressed herself against him one final time, not planning on parting until much _much_ later.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"—ione . . ."

The brunette's face scrunched up as she gave a displeased sound at being disturbed.

"—mione . . ."

 _What's going on?_

The voice grew louder. "Hermione."

Hermione's eyes snapped open, surprised at the darkness that welcomed her. Glancing towards the window, she could see the sun only just beginning to rise.

"'Morning, sleepyhead," whispered Fred.

Memories of last night came back to her and even though she knew it was silly, she couldn't help the blush that emerged. "Good morning," she replied. Her hand moved instinctively to her mouth, trying to cover it in case she had morning breath.

Fred saw through the act and chuckled softly, but appeared too focused on tracing imaginary lines across her face, moving from her eyebrows, to the ridge of her nose, and to her cheek.

"That tickles."

"Hm," was his response.

"You know," Hermione said, "I'm surprised to see you up. Usually I'm the first one."

"I like waking up early," said Fred. "There's just so much to do and I want to take advantage of the day."

Hermione smiled. "That's what I feel too."

Then, suddenly, Fred stopped tracing.

Hermione frowned. "What is it?"

"Your parents work early," he stated.

"Yes? So?"

"So, how is it that you wake up first?"

Hermione's mouth popped open in understanding. "Oh, that? No, it's not what you think. It's Harry."

"Harry?"

"Yes, we have sleepovers." Hermione put on her best teasing grin. "You're not jealous, are you?"

To her horror, Fred was silent.

 _First he has to deal with Viktor showing up at his brother's wedding, then see me dance with the guy and then he finds out I've been having sleepovers with yet another boy! All in less than a day! Of course he's upset!_

"Erm . . .Fred . . ."

"Perhaps . . . I am just the tiniest bit jealous," he admitted.

Hermione looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I mean . . .I've never been invited to Harry's sleepovers."

Hermione smacked him in the face with a pillow. "You bastard!"

Fred laughed. "Oy, what was that for? My heart's broken and you go and assault me."

"You know what for," said Hermione. "You had me worried!"

His laughing easing up, Fred put a hand on her arm, stopping her from another smothering. "Look," he said, "I know you two are thick as thieves. I also know it's not more than family. So if you feel the need to explain yourself, don't. I'm not worried about you and Harry."

Hermione bit her lip. "You're just handling it all so well. Almost too well. First there was Viktor and . . .and now this."

"Krum was a surprise, but other than that, I wasn't lying when I said it didn't bother me."

"Promise?"

Fred smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Promise. And I also happen to trust you."

Hermione's chest swelled and if she'd been more well-rested she might've been able to stop that single tear from escaping. "I trust you too," she said, kissing Fred full on the lips, feeling his grin on her and wishing to be nowhere else.

That is, until Fred pushed away. "Blimey, Granger! Do you ever brush your teeth?"

Hermione blinked out of her former state and gaped. "How dare you!"

She smacked Fred with the pillow again, rejoicing far too much in the laughter and occasional over-exaggerated 'Ow's it produced.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhh, they did it! And a confession of trust waaaat**

 **I don't know about you guys but that was romantish as hell**

 **This chapter has been in planning for a looooong time and it feels so good and weird and cool to have reached this point. (This was supposed to be a one-shot for heavens' sake hahaha)**

 **Anyway, hope you liked this fluff!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**

 **P.S. please do not get used to having the updates be this quick. I had time off from work. I repeat: this is not the standard we try to uphold here!**


	41. Chapter 41

Late Lunch, Chapter 41

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Not long after, when the laughter got too loud and threats were made to stop pillows from flying into faces, Hermione and Fred decided it would be best for her to sneak back to Ginny's room before everyone woke up. Neither of them enjoyed the idea of being caught by Molly or Arthur and it was that fear that motivated Hermione to memorize which exact spots creaked the most in the old house.

Finally reaching Ginny's room—thankful of Fred's warning that the door squeaked if not opened slowly—Hermione let out a relieved breath and set course for her mattress, when there was a movement at the corner of her eye.

Ginny Weasley was staring right at her and Hermione froze.

"Erm . . ."

"And where have you been all night?" Ginny asked, smirk in place and hair sticking out in all angles and directions much like Hermione's. But while Ginny had partied and danced all night, crashing on her bed with make-up still on and messy now, the redhead believed that Hermione's disheveled appearance was due to something else entirely.

"I was . . ." Hermione trailed off as she realised there was no possible way to talk herself out of this one.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Calm down, 'Mione, I was only teasing. I guessed you were with my brother when both of you disappeared. No one but me and George noticed, by the way."

"Not even your mother?"

Ginny laughed. "Don't worry about Mum, she got a bit too friendly and emotional with Mrs. Delacour and ended up drinking her own weight in wine. She won't be up in a while."

Hermione sank down into her mattress. "Well, I suppose that's a relief."

"For you maybe," said Ginny, "but not for Mum."

Hermione smiled guiltily.

They tried to get some more sleep after that, seeing as the sun had just risen, but it proved impossible. Therefore, the two of them readied themselves for the day, feeling refreshed after washing their faces clean and brushing their teeth. Ginny went as far as combing her hair. Hermione, knowing it was a pointless battle, opted to gather all her hair in a bun.

They then prepared breakfast for themselves, making toast and tea—nothing too advanced as the smell of cooked food would no doubt wake her brothers, Ginny said. Hermione laughed and bit into her toast.

"Oh, there's Errol with the post!" exclaimed Ginny suddenly. Hermione followed her line of sight and looked out the kitchen window where a man with a greying moustache (and equally thick and grey eyebrows) was carrying a handful of letters, his sights set on the letter box placed out by the road. Sadly, the man seemed unaware of . . .gravity and fell as he didn't do anything to prevent stumbling over a rogue branch.

"God, should we help him?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"If he doesn't rise—oh, look he's fine." Ginny picked up the tray with all the food and lead them to the living room. "Honestly, Hermione, he does this all the time. Mum says we do him more disservice if we do help him, since he'll learn to rely on us, but really if you're still this clumsy at that age . . .Anyway, what did you say before? About next weekend?"

Hermione blinked. "Right . . .Well, Mum and Dad are taking me on a trip to London."

"Really? That's so exciting! I haven't been there in ages."

"Yes, I'm very much looking forward to it! We go there every now and then, and there's this bookshop I've wanted to—"

"Of course there is," said Ginny, smiling.

Hermione narrowed her eyes on the other girl, playfully. "In any case, we'll be gone for a few days."

Ginny nodded and set down everything in front of the telly. They spent a couple of hours talking and watching whatever was on undisturbed, the breakfast consumed quickly and the pieces of left-over cake that Ginny snuck with her savored to the last bite.

When Mrs. Weasley woke, she found them giggling at a picture Ginny had taken of George high-fiving Fleur, the latter of whom was looking into the camera with an expression saying 'are you kidding me?'. It was so absurd that they didn't note the Weasley matriarch until she cleared her throat.

"Oh, Mum, good morning!"

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley."

"Good morning, dears," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling, but her voice a bit croaky. "I trust you've slept well?"

"Yes," the girls chorused, but Hermione avoided Mrs. Weasley's eyes and Ginny grinned at the sight.

"Good. I was about to whip up some breakfast for your father and brothers and the Delacours, Ginny, but I believe my head might be hurting a bit too much to do it by myself. I hope you don't mind, Hermione, dear, but perhaps you'd be able to assist me as well?"

"Of course," Hermione replied.

As predicted, it didn't take long for the male Weasley's to find their way down the stairs once food was laid out. The Delacours likewise seemed unable to resist the smell.

"Oh, Molly, you shouldn't have," said Mrs. Delacour, her accent thicker than both her daughters'. "You slaved away for the wedding enough, rest now that it is over."

"Well, I . . ."

"Mum, she's right, Hermione and I've got this," said Ginny, but once her mother turned away and sat down at the table, Ginny handed the spatula to Ron.

"Good morning," said Fred quietly, stepping up beside Hermione who was trying to count how many pieces of toast needed preparing.

"Good morning," she replied, blushing slightly. Memories of the night before was fresh in her mind.

Fred grinned, obviously guessing her thoughts, but if she wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn his cheeks were pink too.

"Hey, Mum," said George, looking at today's papers, "if it helps, Lockhart's releasing a new book."

Mrs. Weasley, who had been handed a glass of water from her husband, immediately snapped her head up and asked to see the announcement for herself.

"Mum fancies him," said Ron, who had been stuck with frying the eggs.

"Ron," said Mrs. Weasley, waving her hand at him but went a bit pink as she said, "I just happen to find him charming, is all."

Hermione smiled.

Fred looked at her. "Oh, got a thing for Lockhart too, do you?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was an odd thing, to wake in her own bedroom. Hermione wasn't sure why, but it felt different. Nevertheless, the silence of her home hadn't been entirely unwelcome since she'd barely had any sleep the night before.

Speaking of which . . .

Hermione had debated whether or not she should have mentioned anything to Ginny, but seeing how the girl refused to listen to anything too intimate before Hermione and Fred had had sex, then she doubted Ginny would be interested in hearing this new development. And Harry would want to hear it even less. There was only one person Hermione could call . . .

"Seriously?!" Katie shouted two hours later, hugging Crookshanks to her lap, ignoring the cat's struggling.

"Yes, seriously," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

Katie gaped. "Your ex-boyfriend showed up at the wedding, coming all the way from Bulgaria and just happened to be at the same wedding as you, and later that evening you and Fred lose your virginity to each other? Wow, that's amazing. Something out of a tv-show."

"Glad to hear my drama is entertaining you—hang on, what did you say about Fred?"

Crookshanks was making so much of a fuss that Katie let go. She sent him a disapproving look and then returned her focus to Hermione. "What?"

"About Fred," Hermione repeated, feeling her cheeks get warmer. "and me."

Katie's brows crinkled, until: "Oh, you didn't know?"

Hermione shook her head.

"He didn't tell you? Bloody . . .want me to scold him for you?"

Hermione held her hands up. "No, no need to do that, thank you. But I . . . I just thought he already had . . ." While Hermione had told herself it shouldn't matter if Fred had been with other people, arguing that if it didn't matter to him that she was inexperienced then it shouldn't matter to her that he had experience, there had been a worry of disappointing him. A fear of him comparing her to his previous partners, but now . . . "He was so careful to make sure that I wanted to, but I didn't have any thought in me to think about him. I'm a horrible girlfriend."

Katie patted her back. "No, you're not. Fred's just an idiot for not saying anything."

"Well, it's not as if we talked about it properly—god, I really am I terrible girlfriend! I should have made sure to know how he felt, I should have cared for him too, since it was new for him as well—"

"Hermione! Calm down! Did Fred look unhappy at any point? Like he regretted any of it?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "No."

"Then he's fine. Or, if you're really worried, you can just ask."

"I suppose . . .thank you, Katie."

Katie smiled. "No problem, it's what I'm here for. That and to steal your cat, did I tell you I've always wanted one?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As soon as Katie left, Hermione sighed. She would have to make sure to talk properly with Fred. She was a bit angry with him for not telling her it had been his first time as well— but then again, she hadn't told him that it was hers, he'd just assumed. They still had some work left on their communication skills, it seemed.

Reaching for her phone on the desk, Hermione knocked down a piece of paper. It landed face up, adorned with Alice Longbottom's delicate handwriting, who had written an address down for Hermione when she'd last visited:

 _Borgin & Burkes Bookshop  
13B Knockturn Alley  
London_

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN**

 **Wow, what a cliffhanger, gosh.**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT And unfortunately it will be a while before you'll see what happens next. Having come this far in the timeline, I realised that I need to plan some more for future chapters, so my darlings, I'm sorry, but Late Lunch will be on a tiny pause. Not saying it'll take a year for the next chapter to come, but it won't take a week :/**

 **Hopefully you'll still be with me when the next update comes, but I just want to thank you all for going this far at all. You make it a joy to write and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	42. Chapter 42

Late Lunch, Chapter 42

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

It was a strange sight, a shining sun so late in the summer. But shine it did, brightly, and Hermione was grateful for it.

"This is heaven," sighed her mother. "My family together, eating ice cream, wonderful weather. It's perfect."

"I will have to commend Frank and Alice on their impeccable timing," agreed Hermione's father, scraping the last of his melted lemon ice cream with a spoon eagerly—probably afraid that his wife's sudden leniency regarding sugared sweets was only temporary. "When did you say they were expecting us?"

"Not until four, dear. There's plenty of time."

Hermione started at that. "Would you mind then if I left for a moment? The bookshop Alice suggested is not far from here."

Her father frowned. "Wouldn't you rather have Alice or Neville accompany you?" At Hermione's look however, he rolled his eyes and answered for her: "Of course not, because you like to browse quietly and undisturbed. All right, if you promise to only go there and back and keep it under an hour you may go."

Hermione smiled and kissed her father's cheek, and then her mother's. "Thank you."

She strolled away happily, taking in her brief freedom while she could. It wasn't that she disliked meeting the Longbottoms—quite the contrary, she adored them. It was simply that so much of the time Hermione could spend on actually having a vacation was instead spent on talking to people she had grown up with. And it wasn't as if she and Neville never spoke, they kept in contact, and last time she and Harry had offered to visit was when Neville had had his birthday, this very summer. If not for the fact that Neville and his parents had already made plans to visit for Harry's birthday they most certainly would have gone through with it.

So, Hermione soaked up the city air while following her phone's navigation system to the address Alice had given her. After ten minutes, it announced that she had arrived.

The bookshop she stood in front of was best described as easily missed. Had Hermione not known it was there, she could have passed the small building in the corner of the cramped street and been none the wiser. Now that she knew of its existence, she took a moment to observe the faded sign and dark façade. It reeked of history, and Hermione found it made her want to enter even more. Who knew what she would find in there?

As soon as she stepped inside a small bell rang, alerting the staff to her presence. And yet, no one appeared. Hermione shrugged and decided to venture inside, already impressed with the stacks of books and the seemingly endless rows of shelves. It was as if every available space was covered in books. Frankly, it was a dream come true for her.

Before long, Hermione's arms were straining under the weight of her recent findings, including a book on pranks from the 1950's that she had found for Fred. She was just about to call an end to the shopping, knowing that it was best to restrain herself while she could still carry her discoveries, when a very nice spine caught her attention.

 _Perhaps one more wouldn't be too bad_ , she argued.

She reached for it, but it was higher up than anticipated and Hermione was getting tired. Just then, another hand appeared, and its slender fingers wrapped around the book and brought it down for her.

Hermione turned and her breath caught as she came face to face with perhaps the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.

Dark hair curled down his forehead, contrasting against his pale skin, and his lips formed a smile, though his dark eyes was on the book and not her.

"Interesting choice," he mused aloud.

"Thank you," Hermione stammered and then blushed. "I mean, thank you for bringing it down for me, and not . . ."

The man chuckled as she trailed off and Hermione grew even warmer. She watched him delicately wipe some dust off the cover and then gently place it in her pile. "There you are."

"Thank you," Hermione repeated weakly, feeling stupider by the minute.

"You're welcome," said the man. "That does look a bit heavy, would you mind if I helped you to the register?"

Hermione blinked. "Er, not at all."

She handed him half of the books, noticing how he was eyeing the one on top.

"That one's for my boyfriend," Hermione explained.

The man arched an eyebrow. "A very refined palette he has."

Hermione couldn't help but frown. Sure, the front was an image of a whoopee-cushion and there was more than one cartoon on it, but there was no need to make that comment. To be honest, with that attitude the man reminded her of Percy. A more elegant version of Percy. They even looked the same age. Hermione wondered briefly if they perhaps attended the same university.

"Tom!"

The two of them startled—or more accurately, Hermione did—and watched as a wrinkled, thin old man emerged from the back to stand behind the counter. His smile wasn't bright or beaming by regular standards, but judging by the lack of laugh lines on his face it would appear that he never did beam, so Hermione assumed that this was his version of it now.

"Didn't expect you here today, Tom," said the man behind the counter, addressing the man next to her, who she now gathered was called Tom.

"I was in the neighborhood and you know how I miss this place, Mr. Burke," said Tom. "You have the best antique books collection in town."

"You always were a flatterer," replied Mr. Burke, but looked pleased. "Ah yes, how the customers would flock in here to hear your pretty words. Your shifts always did bring the largest crowd."

"I assure you, it was equally the books that brought them here," said Tom smoothly.

"Yes, yes, well you don't see them now do you?" That's when he appeared to notice Hermione. "Who we got here then?"

"One of the many interested in your collection," answered Tom and handed over the books he'd been holding, gesturing for Hermione to do the same.

"It really is impressive," said Hermione, attempting to smile.

Mr. Burke didn't smile back. "She one of yours? I'm surprised, Tom, you never showed much interest before."

For the first time, Hermione could feel Tom's pleasantness subside and there was slight tick in his jaw as he replied, a bit annoyed, "She's not mine. I was merely assisting the girl."

"Yes, he was very kind to help me carry," said Hermione to which Mr. Burke barely acknowledged with a glance and a grunt.

She watched nervously as Mr. Burke proceeded to scan the books in silence and when he handed her the two bags Hermione was relieved to get out of there. She thanked him and looked briefly at Tom, wanting to thank him too, but he wasn't looking at her and had traveled to admire a display of expensive and rare copies, so she just hurried outside. Once out she marveled at just how different the world seemed than the one inside. For starters, she felt like she could breathe again.

Once around the corner, Hermione stopped and got her phone out.

"Hi, Mum? Yes, sorry it took so long, but I'm on my way back now . . ."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, lovelies!**

 **I got some planning done and bought myself some time to introduce you to Tom Riddle! Don't worry, it won't be the last time you see him. But it will be quite some time though until he appears again….**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this (strange) encounter and that you'll stick with me for future chapters! (there will be more Fred, I promise!) *hugs***

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	43. Chapter 43

Late Lunch, Chapter 43

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

Hermione's laughter grew rapidly louder and she had to restrain herself from accidentally elbowing Fred in the stomach, her body wanting to defend itself as his kisses tickled her neck mercilessly on the bed.

"Fred—"

"Thank you, thank you," he said, ignoring her protests, "Thank you."

Hermione grinned. "It was nothing, but I'm glad you like it."

"Oh, good," said a voice. "I was hoping I'd someday catch my brother slob on a poor girl's neck." George entered Fred's room and picked up a jumper from the floor and aimed it at him. "You're not a vampire, quit it."

Fred caught the jumper from hitting Hermione's face just in time and chucked it back at his twin's feet. He pressed his cheek against Hermione's from behind and kept his arms around her waist, smiling. "What you want, you great prune?"

George sighed. "Mum's out with Ginny on errands for a couple of hours."

As if reading his thoughts, Fred responded with an: "Ah."

Hermione looked questioningly at her boyfriend.

He smiled. "Would you mind spending some time in the shed?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. Although, it depends on what we'd be doing there."

George laughed. "Don't worry, Granger. S'nothing illegal."

She gave him a wry smile. "You saying that makes me believe you even less."

George just laughed again and began his descent downstairs.

Hermione and Fred lingered for a moment longer.

"You truly don't mind?" Fred asked.

"No, and you don't have to worry about entertaining me," answered Hermione, leaning against his chest and peering up at him. "I just want to spend time with you."

She felt his breath deepen and how he clutched her slightly tighter. Finally, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "C'mon, let's not keep George waiting. He gets pathetic when he's left alone."

Hermione only nodded and allowed Fred to pull her down the stairs. Some things didn't need to be said, instead they could just be felt. But Hermione was proud of what she'd managed to say, despite the slight warmth coating her face. It was easier nowadays telling Fred how she felt and if it made him this happy to hear it, she'd keep at it.

Speaking of happy, she felt her lips pull up thinking about what had happened five minutes ago, when Fred had received his gift from London. At first, he'd been staring at the wrapped package, asking her what the occasion was, to which she'd simply responded with an ushering motion, telling him to go ahead. He tore off the paper (a bit too indelicately for her taste, but never mind that) and Hermione watched him break into the widest grin she'd ever seen. That was the last thing she saw before he tackled her down to the bed and thanked her.

"How come I've never been invited to this mysterious shed before?" Hermione asked as they walked around the house and towards the back.

Fred moved a small branch to the side, to prevent it hitting her face. "Well, as you can see, the pathway to it gets a bit overgrown in the summer and since Mum doesn't really enjoy us working in there anyway, she doesn't bother making a fuss about us tending to it. But George and I don't mind. It feels more like a secret clubhouse this way."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "And are girls allowed in your secret clubhouse?"

"Not really, so I might end up owing George a whole lot of favours after this," said Fred and winked.

"I thank you for your sacrifice," Hermione answered.

Fred grinned.

They arrived in front of what resembled a small house, larger than the Grangers' tool shed which was closer to a wardrobe in size, and Hermione had to admit she was impressed with the condition it was in. While they had let the way to it become overrun, it was clear that the twins valued this place.

George stood waiting right outside, tinkering with a small metal cube with a screwdriver while the door was open. Inside, Hermione could already see a table covered in items, ranging from old phones and discarded motorcycle parts to plastic vampire teeth and rubber ducks. And batteries. Lots and lots of batteries.

"Uncle Fabian swore this would work," said George. "But I can't help but think he just got us this as a joke."

"That would be an excellent prank," said Fred. "Perhaps one for the 'potential ideas' box?"

George shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt."

"You remember Uncle Fabian and Gideon?" asked Fred.

"Their names do sound familiar," said Hermione, well aware of the twins' favourite uncles—who incidentally also happened to be twins. The pair of them had been most insistent on demanding a dance each from her at Bill and Fleur's wedding and it had driven them to laughter to find out how she and Fred had met. She still struggled to understand how they could be Mrs. Weasley's older brothers.

"They dropped off a few things they thought might interest us when they were here last," continued Fred, "And me and George have been trying to find use for it all. So far, the largest potential lies with an old computer we're scouring for parts. Found a decent CPU cooler."

"Right," said Hermione, wishing she'd studied more on computers. "What's those in there for?"

"I think Dad dropped the ducks in there," answered George. "Was never sure why."

She nodded absently and proceeded to inspect the things. She never dared venture inside for fear of knocking anything down and instead stayed safely outside, but peeking in. "You have anything that's finished?"

Fred shook his head. "Nothing worth showing anyway. Mostly we work with fixing things, but when it comes to building them, we usually lack important, expensive parts."

Hermione turned and smirked. "Or perhaps it's your ideas that are too ambitious?"

Fred laughed and George chuckled to himself.

"All right, no more of that, Granger," said Fred, "Let me show you why we're here."

Fred led Hermione along, and not inside the shed as she'd expected, but around it. She'd seen something white poke out from behind the edges of the house before and been curious to what it was, but hadn't thought much of it. Now, however, she could see what it was even before Fred pulled the tarp off.

Hermione gaped. "That's a car," she said.

"Yup," Fred smiled. "A Ford Anglia."

"How on earth did you get a car?"

"Dad's had it forever," said Fred, "trying to fix it and keep it in decent shape. But he never quite had the time he needed, so he finally just gave it to us. He said we could keep it if we figured out what's wrong. Mum has no idea."

"But . . .you can't drive yet," said Hermione and frowned while her boyfriend laughed yet again.

"We'll be taking the test soon enough, Hermione. In the meantime, we'll work on getting this car to roll and you know, not kill us."

Hermione's lips twisted up. "That would be nice, seeing how I've grown fond of you. You sure it'll be safe?"

Fred nodded. "Dad wouldn't give us anything that could hurt us."

That's when George joined them, carrying a toolbox and a very dirty towel, covered in grease. "Let's get to it, gents!"

They spent the rest of the day there, the three of them. Fred and George hidden under the hood of the car, and Hermione, seated on a tree trunk, handing them the occasional tool. By the end of it, the sky had gone from blue to orange and it came as no surprise when Ginny texted George that she and Mrs. Weasley were on their way back from the city, only stopping to pick Ron up on the way.

"Right-o," said Fred, "time to call it quits. We might need to clean up a bit before Mum gets back."

"You'll need to do more than wipe your hands on that towel," said Hermione, scrunching her nose as she wiped a thumb across Fred's cheek.

"She's right," said George. "You look awful, brother."

Fred swatted George with the towel and once the things were locked inside the shed and the car was covered, they walked inside the house.

While the twins showered, Hermione waited in Fred's room and scrolled through her phone. Throughout the day Harry had sent her messages and photos from his visit to the Lupins'. Mostly it was pictures of Teddy, smiling at the camera.

She sent him a photo she had taken of Fred and George fighting over the same wrench, both covered in grease and making the most ridiculous faces.

 _\- You have your child, I have mine_.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: Such cuteness…ugh.**

 **Anyway! Hello! Happy you're joining for another chapter! Since the last update, this fic has been nominated for a 2017 Marauder Medal, for Best AU! Whaaaattt! Amaazzinnggg**

 **So if you'd like to vote for this fic, please go vote! (Since I can't link the link, I'll direct you to my tumblr: primruesabcd-there you can search for the nomination ((just type 2017 Marauder Medal and it should show up)) Voting ends 31st October!**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember I treasure you all! Your support and kind reviews made it possible for this AU to keep going for as long as it has, and now it's even been nominated for a prize! So thank you!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


	44. Chapter 44

Late Lunch, Chapter 44

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"What a child!"

"Hermione—" Harry started, but was interrupted by a frustrated huff from his best friend.

"I mean, how can he possibly expect us to be okay with this? You're not okay with this, are you, Harry? Moping about like that when we were about to say no . . .not to mention that he expects me to be a good judge. _Me_." Hermione huffed again. "And you know why, it's because I'm a woman. That's why."

"I'm not sure that's all there is to it . . ."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course it is, Harry. Ronald doesn't know what to get his sister for her birthday, so what does he do? He employs the one girl in view to help him."

Harry sighed. "To be fair, I'm here as well, aren't I? And I don't think Ron even sees you as a girl, really."

He knew he'd done wrong when he spotted the way her mouth dropped. Like she couldn't believe he'd just said that. Frankly, Harry wasn't sure _he_ could believe he'd dared say it. But Hermione was getting on his nerves lately. Or rather, her _and_ Ron to be honest. Not separately, but the combination.

Summer holidays was fun in many ways but having developed a truly nice friendship with Ron Weasley while trying to maintain a fairly regular meet-up schedule with Hermione was exhausting. Therefore, he'd suggested the three of them spend together simultaneously. An idea he was beginning to regret.

Ron and Hermione already had problems seeing eye to eye, but having Hermione be his brother's girlfriend made it harder for Ron to see her as a person in a way. Harry suspected that Hermione had simply never got to become 'Hermione' in Ron's eyes. Rather, she'd been 'that weird girl' and now 'Fred's girlfriend'. Harry had thought them spending time together might remedy that, but it seemed that Hermione's label now was 'Fred's girlfriend and Harry's annoying childhood friend'.

Hermione, meanwhile, wasn't stupid. She could tell Ron didn't know what to make of her and it made her insecurities skyrocket. Any comment he made she'd try to argue because she wanted to set things straight and not have him assume things about her. And Ron responded to arguments with more arguments.

It was a living nightmare Harry hoped soon would end.

And now, with Ron dragging them out shopping (something which Hermione hated) Harry feared the damage might turn irreparable.

"Harry! 'Mione! D'you think Ginny'd like this?" asked Ron far ahead, holding up a pigtailed doll.

"I swear," Hermione mumbled, "does he even know his own sister?"

Harry watched as Hermione strode up to Ron and began asking him just that. Harry sighed.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione was exhausted and her feet hurt. Shopping with girls was already a chore, but it could be fun. Occasionally it was even nice. But shopping with boys . . .never had she experienced torture like this.

Not only were they slow and easily distracted, but they also had no clue how to lay out a battle plan. Katie and Ginny always had a battle plan, they knew exactly where to go and what to look for. And when they just wanted to relax and take it easy, it actually was relaxing! The would go to a place to get food and talk about everything and nothing and Hermione could actually let her guard down.

But with Ronald bloody Weasley there was no doing so. She felt herself constantly grow defensive against him and she did not care for it. She didn't like being that person. It was times like these she was reminded to be grateful to have found such good friends as she had this year. She didn't have to go through this anymore, or at least she'd thought she was done with this.

"There you are," said a voice.

Hermione looked up from where she sat, hidden behind a large plant. Harry joined her on the bench, not saying anything. But she knew he wanted to.

"Can you believe he wanted to get Ginny that yellow dress?" Hermione asked.

Harry chuckled. "I might not know much, but at least I know that that was the most atrocious thing to ever exist. Maybe we should have just let him get it just to see what Ginny's reaction would have been?"

Hermione shook her head quickly. "I don't want to be held responsible for Ronald Weasley's death."

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "You seemed pretty determined to be responsible before."

"Only because he's killing _me_ , Harry! All the arguments, why can't he just leave it be?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

Hermione raised her chin. "Well. . . good to know whose side you're on."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it, 'Mione."

"I know," Hermione said, relenting quickly. "I know. You just spend a lot of time with him, is all."

"And you spend a lot of time with his brother. We're both busy right now and that's okay."

Hermione nodded. Perhaps there had been more to the situation than she'd wanted to admit. But how could she admit that she'd grown jealous of Ron Weasley? "Speaking of busy, how's Cho?"

Harry turned red. "She's good. We're—she's good."

Hermione grinned. "Good." Then she let her grin fade a bit before letting out a small sigh. "We used to spend our entire summers together, do you remember? And now, everything's changed. . ."

Harry considered her for a moment. "It's all good, though. Isn't it?"

In her mind's eye, she could see Fred's smile and hear his laughter. She smiled and nodded.

Harry stood up and held out his hand. "Let's try this again, then? Not all changes need to be bad."

Hermione couldn't help but agree and took his hand to rise. Then she held up a finger in warning. "But if he tries drag us into yet another sports' store to look at Chudley Cannons merchandise, I'm out."

Harry laughed. "Fair enough."

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: HELLO LOVELIES! IT'S BEEN FOREVER!**

 **Life is bananas sometimes and the world turns and shifts, but what's important is to remember that just because there's change, it doesn't mean that it's bad. It just means things are changing. I've been having to learn this the past six months and I'm happy to say that my big changes have turned out to be for the soooooooooo much better. But balance is still hard nonetheless and it's taken sometime to get back into the routine of writing again. But here I am! And I missed you all!**

 **I hope you're all doing well and that you embrace whatever change enters your life. Who knows? It might be the best thing to happen to you (even if it doesn't seem like it at first). And I'm also talking to Hermione here. LET RON BE YOUR FRIEND HERMIONE OH MY GOOOD. YOU CAN BE THREEEEE BEST FRIENDS. MAYBE EVEN A GOLDEN TRIOOOO! WHAHAAAATT!**

 **Until next time!  
/Primrue**

 **P.S. I have not thoroughly edited this because I was so happy to be writing at all and I don't want to get stuck and instead want to focus on getting more chapters out so this is what you get muahaha!**


	45. Chapter 45

Late Lunch, Chapter 45

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

"Oh my god, Harry, will you please hurry?"

There was no verbal answer, instead Hermione watched Harry's hand peek out of the bathroom and make a rude gesture her way.

Hermione rolled her eyes and continued flipping through one of his books lazily, waiting for him to finish primping.

When he was finally done surrendering to his hair (it was in no way tidier than before) the two of them said good bye to Lily and James and hopped on their bikes.

The wind rushing by as they sped along the streets made Hermione shiver slightly, as she had to concede that summer was coming to an end. And just in time for school to start soon.

But first, Ginny Weasley's birthday.

"This was the address, right?" asked Harry, resting his bike against the wall to the house they'd just arrived at. "Just making sure."

Hermione put hers away as well, before answering, "Yes, this is it. Though I don't think anyone else is here . . ."

They knocked on the door, Hermione feeling a strange sense of nostalgia, remembering Seamus' party where Fred had picked her up in a hug. It had made her blush, being so close to him. If only her past self had known they'd come to do a lot more than hug, she might have had a heart attack.

But it wasn't Seamus who opened the door this time, it was Ron.

He smiled at them, telling them to enter. "Nice to see you, mate," he said to Harry and gave him a hug. He then surprised Hermione with giving her one too.

"Hi, Ronald," she said, a bit unsurely. He smiled.

"No one's here yet, but you can have something to drink in the kitchen. You can tell Gin congrats too, she's in there." Ron wrinkled his nose. "Fair warning, though, she's had a bit to drink. So she might be more . . ." He looked at Katie, who had emerged from what Hermione assumed was the sitting area.

Katie slapped his arm. "Oy!"

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks but smiled. They thanked Ron and, after Hermione had received a hug from Katie, made their way to the kitchen where Ginny was standing, mixing together a punch, and wearing a party hat shaped like a crown that said 'Birthday Princess'. It was tipped to the side.

When Ginny noticed them entering, she stopped moving to the music and pouring in a very generous amount of liquor into the bowl and smiled.

"Welcome, welcome!" said Ginny, holding out her hands wide to them both. "So glad you could make it! Welcome to the celebration!"

Harry and Hermione laughed and thanked her. "Happy Birthday, Ginny," said Harry, giving her a hug. "Been a good one so far?"

Ginny nodded. "Oh, you have no idea, Harry Potter. It's been beyond any expectations on my part. My brothers are even _letting_ me drink today." She snorted. "Hey, you haven't met Colin before, by any chance?"

Harry blinked. "Colin? No, don't think so. Your mate, I take it?"

"Indeed he is. Colin Creevey, the pure soul that he is, is lending us his house for the evening. He's so sweet and kind and talented at photography—"

"Oh, he's the bloke with the camera?" Harry asked Hermione, to which she answered with a nod. Both of them mostly knew of Colin because of his photography.

"—and he's your number one fan too," finished Ginny. " _And_ . . . I might have promised him an introduction in exchange for borrowing the house."

Once again, Harry blinked. "Oh, sure. Sounds like a great guy, I'd love to meet him."

Hermione turned to her best friend. "Harry, are you sure you understand what she's saying—"

Ginny squealed. "Great! He's right this way!" Ginny took hold of Harry's elbow and dragged him out of the kitchen, before Hermione could tell Harry that there was a chance Colin wanted more than an introduction.

But then again, Harry was oblivious to those things.

"If you're wondering where my brother is, he and George and Lee are away to the shop," said a voice behind her.

Hermione lowered the cup she'd poured for herself and gave Ron a nod. She'd figured as much. Ron continued to stand at the doorway, making Hermione wonder what he was doing.

"I don't hate you, you know," he said finally.

"Oh . . ." Hermione didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, Ron continued for her. "It's just. . .you drive me a bit nutters sometimes. But I suppose I do the same to you."

"A bit," Hermione admitted.

Ron nodded, and it seemed he had run out of sincere things for the day, as he followed this up with, "See the game last night?"

Hermione chuckled. "No. No, I didn't."

Ron grinned. "Me neither. Blasted Tutshill Tornados."

This made Hermione laugh and she offered Ron a cup, telling him about what had just happened with Harry and Ginny.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ginny gasped as she opened another one of her gifts. "I love them!" She held up the shoes for everyone to see. She then turned to Harry, Hermione and Ron. "Thank you!"

"Don't mention it," said Ron, as if it had been his idea to purchase Ginny a pair of new and decent football shoes.

Ginny showed them to Luna, who had been eyeing them curiously and wondered aloud when people decided there need be more than one pairs of shoes, for different occasions.

"That was nice," whispered Fred in Hermione's ear, no doubt knowing it had been her suggestion to get the shoes.

Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek and resumed her attention to Ginny's gift unwrapping, but still leaning against her boyfriend's chest, his arms around her. George came to stand by them, watching Ginny surrounded by wrapping paper all around her seat on the floor.

"She's got a larger haul than we did for our birthday. And there's two of us."

Fred laughed. "She's more popular than us, brother. We both knew she would be."

George pouted. "Only because Ginny had Ron before her, and he's not a tough act to follow. We had Bill and Charlie. _Charlie_ , for goodness sakes."

Hermione frowned. "What about Percy?"

Fred and George looked at each other. "Do you know who she's talking about?"

"Not a clue."

"Curious."

"Indeed. Although, from the name alone, I think it's safe to say that this Percy sounds like a real tosser."

"You boys are so mean," said Hermione, ignoring their offended gasps.

Not long after the gifts had been unwrapped, the other guests had begun arriving and the house went from a gathering to a proper party. Most of the people Hermione, thankfully, knew.

"Hermione!" Angelina waved at her, struggling to make her way to Hermione's seat on the sofa. Her smile was bright and contagious.

"It's been so long!" said Angelina. "Typical we don't meet again until the very end of summer."

"Well, we've both been rather busy," Hermione replied, smiling. "I heard you've been away at some football thing?" Hermione scolded herself for not knowing more about it but she had honestly forgotten what Fred and George had told her about it as soon as they said it. All she knew was that Angelina had been serious about improving on her football skills.

Angelina didn't seem to take offence, but instead laughed. "Yeah, it's been rough, but great. By the way, you haven't seen George around, have you?"

Hermione felt a smirk grow. "He was outside last I saw."

Angelina nodded, not noticing Hermione's smirk. "Okay, I need to talk to him about . . .something. We'll chat later?"

Hermione nodded and let Angelina go. She felt the cushion dip beside her and an arm slip around her shoulders and she took the hand hanging off her shoulder. "Being devious, my dear?"

"I don't know what you mean," Hermione answered.

Fred laughed and kissed the top of her head. "That face of yours promises nothing well."

"I'm offended you'd talk about my face that way," Hermione joked.

Again, Fred laughed. "You know what I mean. My brother and Angelina are slow, they need to go about this their own way. Without the teasing."

"You mean to tell me you've never teased them?"

Fred turned silent and Hermione had her answer. She laughed.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Fred soon joined his brother and Lee to show off their juggling abilities (using items from Creeveys' bookcase she hoped weren't valuable). Hermione was content just watching them, despite Fred's insistence of having a beautiful assistant. He'd rescinded the offer as soon as she had reminded him that she was no one's assistant.

That's when Ginny sat down next to her.

"Wotcher, 'Mione," she said. "How're you?"

"I'm all right. How are you, Ginny?" She eyed her friend, who then rolled her brown eyes.

"I'm fine. I've been cut off for the night, do not worry. My brothers look out for me." She sniffed. "I hate them."

"No, you don't."

Ginny sighed. "No, I don't," she repeated. "But god, I want to. I see you and Fred and Seamus and Dean and I just . . ."

Hermione frowned. "Ginny . . .Why isn't Blaise here?"

Ginny's gaze fell to her knees and the princess crown tipped forward. Hermione was surprised it was even on still. "What?" she asked. "Did you not hear me? All my brothers are here."

"So . . .?"

"So it's none of their business who I date! But they would make it their business as soon as I introduce them! I mean, I dated poor Dean for two weeks years ago and he hasn't dated girls ever since!"

Hermione couldn't help but giggle. "I doubt that's the reason why. I'm pretty sure Seamus had something do with that—"

"Oh, please, 'Mione," answered Ginny, groaning. "Just . . .okay?"

Hermione pressed her lips together. "Mhm."

That's when the phone in Ginny's lap began glowing. Hermione spotted the name on the screen and gaped. Ginny just stared.

When a few too many moments had gone by and the phone still rang, Hermione asked, "Aren't you going to answer?"

"I . . ." When Ginny couldn't make any more words come out, she just pressed her thumb to the screen aggressively and pressed the phone to her ear. "What? All right. Sure. Yes. Thank you."

Hermione watched Ginny hang up and then grinned. "You're red."

Ginny avoided her eyes. "That's my hair colour."

"Not what I meant, you know that."

"He wished me a happy birthday."

"That's nice of him."

Ginny nodded, and Hermione couldn't for the life of her understand what was between her and Blaise Zabini, but she watched the way her friend smiled and she had to suppose that was enough.

On her other side, Cho was telling Katie about her summer when a laugh erupted—a very loud one—across the room. Hermione looked to the fireplace, not surprised to see Colin having found Harry _again_ , both of them talking pleasantly with each other.

"I can't watch this anymore," said Cho and downed her drink.

The girls watched her walk up to Harry and Colin, tap Harry on the shoulder and then proceed to push his face against hers.

There was a collective 'oh my god', whistling, and an amused 'bloody hell' from Ron, as Cho made it clear just who it was that Harry was dating.

Fred found her and leaned in as they all laughed and applauded (even poor Colin who seemingly took his defeat in stride) and whispered in Hermione's ear, "Want to get some air?"

Hermione put down her drink and nodded.

They went outside to Colin's backyard, it being surprisingly empty. Though, Hermione supposed it was a bit cold. Her and Fred found a large swing beneath a tree, fit for two to sit on.

They laughed a little as Fred made the swing go faster and faster, until it was getting unevenly rocked since Hermione wasn't moving on her side, at which point they slowed down, leaning on each other for warmth and closeness.

"I can't believe summer is almost over," Hermione sighed. "It's gone by so fast this year."

Fred hummed in agreement, his hand finding hers, and while their fingers intertwined Hermione wondered how she could ever think there were other functions to them than this. How they could have been made to do anything else but this. Anything but hold onto him.

They continued a slow pace on the swing, back and forth, and Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that this was more than just a nice moment. She . . .she felt all warm inside. And safe. At peace.

And when she looked at Fred, she suspected what it was that was growing inside of her heart.

Fred noticed her staring and Hermione had to blink away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Hermione?" he asked.

"Got something in my eyes, I'm all right," she lied, rubbing her eyes. She attempted a smile as she rose, him following her a bit worried. "Perhaps we should move inside, it looks like it'll—"

Her words were interrupted by a small rumble above and before she knew it, she was soaked.

She met Fred's equally stunned eyes and within a second they were both laughing. The rain fell, but they didn't care. Instead, they just found themselves moving closer to each other.

Fred cupped her face, gently forcing her up on her toes. She felt his smile on her lips, as she always did, and she couldn't help but smile back.

Whatever she was starting to feel, she could figure out later. Right now, all she knew was Fred's lips on hers, his hands holding her to him, and the rain falling on them both, sure to give them both a cold come morning.

Right now, all she knew was that she was happy.

* * *

~o0o~

* * *

 **A/N: AAAWWWWW**

 **I want to thank all of you who are still sticking with me and this story. You're the real heroes, thank you. (I mean sure I am the genius writing this masterpiece, but everyone needs cheerleaders, right? Hahaha just kiiidddinnggg ((partly))**

 **Anyway, summer is over for our lovers and school will start and things will happen! Wow, excitingggg**

 **Thank you again for reading, kisses to you all!**

 **Until next time!**  
 **/Primrue**


End file.
